I agree with your premise yet I don't like the word happiness. As a therapist I see many people who want to be "happy ". Happiness is a transient state. No one is always happy and that is often the expectation. Life satisfaction may be a better way to describe it.
I appreciate your perspective Linda, particularly from a therapist. I also feel somewhat ambivalent about the word “happiness,” and I do mean it in the “life satisfaction” sense, which I did my best to distinguish in the article. But you may be right, the H word carries a lot of baggage relating to the fleeting, feeling-good-in-the-moment excitement, which isn’t what positive mental health is about.
I agree with your premise yet I don't like the word happiness. As a therapist I see many people who want to be "happy ". Happiness is a transient state. No one is always happy and that is often the expectation. Life satisfaction may be a better way to describe it.
I appreciate your perspective Linda, particularly from a therapist. I also feel somewhat ambivalent about the word “happiness,” and I do mean it in the “life satisfaction” sense, which I did my best to distinguish in the article. But you may be right, the H word carries a lot of baggage relating to the fleeting, feeling-good-in-the-moment excitement, which isn’t what positive mental health is about.