Martin Seligman makes an excellent point in his lecture! His idea that there are different levels to happiness hit home to me. His point of people feeling happy because they are living the good life, or a pleasant life, or a meaningful life is very insightful and categorical. I enjoyed how he broke the types of happiness down into types of contentment that we can attain throughout our lives. He also mentioned that a mixture of these three can also lead to a sense of happiness. I feel that most of us have a mixture of each in our lives and that keeps us all going.
I have always known that there is happiness as in giddiness and laughter, happiness as in contentment, and also happiness as in pure joy. I have always striven to be content in life. The type of joy that comes along when we first hold our newborn baby and the giddiness that we sometimes get when we are playing are not going to be permanent states in life. I think that some people feel that they are short changed when their life is not filled with giddiness and pure joy. I feel that giddiness and joy are extra special times that need to be appreciated simply because they are not as common. Contentment, filled with a good dose of gratitude, seem to keep may "happiness" tank full.
