Can you really be happy?

Practical ways for anyone to stop chasing the good life, and to just live it.

The philosophy of committing to unconditional happiness is an idea.

My intention here is to (1) figure out exactly what this idea really is, (2) argue that the search for happiness is a fallacy, and (3) prove that many of us can just be happy. I hope this can inspire enough curiosity for you to entertain the thought and realize the low-cost investment of trying these practical tactics. The large potential payoff is worth it.

I know a statement like, just be happy, can be read as impractical and foolishly idealistic. I also acknowledge that this might seem insensitive to those with clinical depression (several within my immediate family), however, committing to unconditional happiness is not mutually exclusive. It’s totally fair to approach this with some empirical skepticism. I actually encourage it. Ideas tend to stick better when they’re questioned first.

Life should be about being happy, not becoming happy. Making happiness conditional to something, or an external state that needs to be found, is based on a fundamentally false pretense — if something isn’t lost, you can’t find it searching for it. That which is not lost can’t be found by searching.

A recent story about a traveler in Iceland shared on the Making Sense podcast, with Sam Harris and author/historian, Yuval Noah Harari, illustrates what I mean by this.