alt Disney once said: “Happiness is a state of mind. It’s just according to the way you look at things.” As the creator of the “happiest place on earth” he probably knows a thing or two about happiness and what resonated most in his statement is that happiness is a transient human emotion, not a state of being. Given wellbeing brings together all aspects of health—physical, mental, social and emotional—a better indicator would be quality of life. Here’s why.
In The Happiness Trap, author Russ Harris talks about happiness myths. For many people, happiness means feeling good. But does everything in your life make you feel good all the time? The reality is, probably not. So, does that take away from your overall state of wellbeing? I don’t think so. For instance, if you have children, you’ve probably found many aspects bring you happiness, but it also brings you anxiety, anger and fear. But you’d likely say that raising children contributes positively to your overall wellbeing, giving meaning and purpose to your life.
Another happiness myth is if you are not happy, you are defective. The reality is life can be difficult. Everything in your life isn’t going to bring you joy all the time. For example, hopefully you have a career that you find fulfilling. There are days when you ace the presentation or solve a big challenge and you are on cloud nine. But there are other days where the problems are piling up or you make a big mistake. Your job doesn’t need to make you happy every day to still be fulfilling and meaningful. Oftentimes the most challenging aspects of your work are what drive your development. And these have a positive impact on your wellbeing.
That’s why I think quality of life is a better indicator of wellbeing. It’s tied to a myriad of factors that contribute to your wellbeing and allow for ebbs and flows. Quality of life connects to overall life satisfaction, which includes having close personal relationships, a fulfilling career, sleep, spirituality, goal–setting and a sense of purpose, among many other vectors. It’s the interconnectedness of these vectors working together that bring about overall wellbeing, emotion agnostic.
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Quality of life, not happiness, to measure wellbeing
Photo by Sam Moghadam Khamseh on Unsplash
March 21, 2024
We can’t be happy all the time, and we’re not supposed to always be happy. That’s why happiness is a poor measure of our overall wellbeing, but quality of life can tell us much more, writes Daniella Foster.
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alt Disney once said: “Happiness is a state of mind. It’s just according to the way you look at things.” As the creator of the “happiest place on earth” he probably knows a thing or two about happiness and what resonated most in his statement is that happiness is a transient human emotion, not a state of being. Given wellbeing brings together all aspects of health—physical, mental, social and emotional—a better indicator would be quality of life. Here’s why.
In The Happiness Trap, author Russ Harris talks about happiness myths. For many people, happiness means feeling good. But does everything in your life make you feel good all the time? The reality is, probably not. So, does that take away from your overall state of wellbeing? I don’t think so. For instance, if you have children, you’ve probably found many aspects bring you happiness, but it also brings you anxiety, anger and fear. But you’d likely say that raising children contributes positively to your overall wellbeing, giving meaning and purpose to your life.
Another happiness myth is if you are not happy, you are defective. The reality is life can be difficult. Everything in your life isn’t going to bring you joy all the time. For example, hopefully you have a career that you find fulfilling. There are days when you ace the presentation or solve a big challenge and you are on cloud nine. But there are other days where the problems are piling up or you make a big mistake. Your job doesn’t need to make you happy every day to still be fulfilling and meaningful. Oftentimes the most challenging aspects of your work are what drive your development. And these have a positive impact on your wellbeing.
That’s why I think quality of life is a better indicator of wellbeing. It’s tied to a myriad of factors that contribute to your wellbeing and allow for ebbs and flows. Quality of life connects to overall life satisfaction, which includes having close personal relationships, a fulfilling career, sleep, spirituality, goal–setting and a sense of purpose, among many other vectors. It’s the interconnectedness of these vectors working together that bring about overall wellbeing, emotion agnostic.
