The Magic of Value-Based Happiness

It seems like every blog I write it has something to do about how we are not living life to the fullest. It seems like every person seems like they are not living life to the fullest. Sometimes we are so consumed with our daily lives that we forget to look at the larger picture of who we are and what we need to be happy. So it takes an extraordinary event such as a life-threatening illness, or the death of a loved one, to focus our attention on the meaning of our lives. Why is it that we have to have an event like this happen for us to value life and realize that we are not living it to the fullest?
We focus our lives so much on pleasure because we think that pleasure and doing what we like is what will make us happy. If everyone is chasing after the American dream and trying to gain all of the material things in life than why is it that it seems like everyone is unhappy? Its because we are chasing after "feel-good" happiness and it seems like the more we try to reach this the harder it is to come by.After you identify your most important desires, you need to find effective ways to satisfy them. There is a catch, however. Shortly after you satisfy a desire, it reasserts itself, motivating you to satisfy the desire all over again. The "feel-good" happiness is like a drug that takes more and more of it to get the same high. That is why we sometimes hit rock bottom, its not that things are going bad in our lives we are just not getting as much enjoyment out of the things in life we use to and we have no foundation for our happiness.
In order to achieve true happiness we need to focus on value-based happiness.  Value-based happiness is a sense that our lives have meaning and fulfill some larger purpose. It represents a spiritual source of satisfaction, coming from our deeper purpose and values. Since this form of happiness is not ruled by the feel-good high that we always work to maintain, there is no limit to how meaningful our lives can be. Value-based happiness is the great equalizer in life. You can find value-based happiness if you are rich or poor, smart or mentally challenged, athletic or clumsy, popular or socially awkward. Wealthy people are not necessarily happy, and poor people are not necessarily unhappy. Values, not pleasure, are what bring true happiness, and everybody has the potential to live in accordance with their values.