Living Well

Happiness is something that is very individual for every person. There might be three people in the same room and five definitions of happiness. It might include sitting down and doing some web development or just reading a good book. Either way, it is definitely something to think about at least a couple times a year. This has been thought by humans since ancient Greece. Aristotle came up with one of the most famous definitions of happiness, eudaimonia, or human flourishing. By this theory of self-actualization, personal well-being and happiness are the highest goals that we can strive for. For German phenomenologist Martin Heidegger, a good life could was not possible unless you were living authentically, directing your life on your own terms, rather than following the blueprints set by others. To Emerson, the early American Transcendentalist thinker, taking each day in stride -- as unburdened as possible by worries about the past and future -- was the best route to a life well-lived.