Posted on January 5, 2022

"Then I thought of a line by William Butler Yates. ‘Happiness’ wrote Yeats, ‘is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that, but simply growth. We are happy when we are growing’."

—Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

I find this concept fascinating! It suggests that happiness is nowhere to be found—not in material things, exciting experiences or even people we care about—but in the measure of how much I’m growing when interacting with them. I agree with this.

Most often than not, I feel happy with some material things (e.g. my new eReader), with experiences (e.g. visiting new countries), and with the people I care about (e.g. family and friends). However, I can see how any of these interactions had implicitly a notch of growth attached to them; for instance, learning new concepts and points of views from the books I read, getting to know different traditions and cultures from the places I visit, and pushing each other to be the best version we can be with my friends and family.

On the other hand, I find it very clear that my—scarce, but still present—unhappiness is related to situations where there is no growth: buying anything or attending an event that doesn't help me improve in something, or superfluous encounters with my people.

I guess realization is the main thing I’m taking away from this. As long as I can realize if something will help me grow or not—in any sense that such a concept entails—, I’d be able to choose happiness over unhappiness anytime.