Because happiness is not something you can 'have', it's something that happens. If you pursue happiness as a goal in itself, you may find that whatever you tho

Because happiness is not something you can 'have', it's something that happens. If you pursue happiness as a goal in itself, you may find that whatever you thought would give you happiness is not enough. On the other hand, if you have a mission and pursue that, you might not accomplish your mission, but happiness, or at least contentment that you are making progress, may happen in the process. Related: "What is the meaning of existence? To stop searching for the meaning of existence" (paraphrased from somewhere). I like Alan Watts' talk on 'discipline'[1]. tl;dr: "It's enormously important, especially for American people, to understand that there is absolutely no possibility of having any pleasure in life at all without skill." [1] https://youtu.be/RNn1FB-Yn2M https://youtu.be/RNn1FB-Yn2M - put it in a background tab to avoid the silly graphics.