What Is Life About – Happiness, Meaningfulness, or Something Else?

What is life about for you? To go for the gusto and experience a new thrill every day? To live a quiet life? To live a good life? To live a happy life? To live a life of meaning and purpose? Each phrase brings a different picture to your mind, doesn’t it? What does it mean to YOU to really live?

Life is about how you choose to spend the time you have – only you can define and design the life you want. What makes you happy or gives your life meaning may be vastly different from anyone else’s. The key is to determine YOUR Perfect Life and then live it without apology.

What Is Life About?

While we have differences, there are some basic human behaviors and emotional responses that remain constant. Take, for example, our shared reactions to living for happiness, living for purpose, and living for meaning.

What do you think: Can you have happiness without purpose? Can you have meaning without happiness? So many times they’re linked together, aren’t they? Yet, you may have noticed subtle differences.

Everyone wants to be happy, but happiness can be elusive because external circumstances greatly impact it. Your health, wealth, or good relationships may make you happy, but just let a circumstance change – you catch a cold, you lose your wallet – and happiness turns to misery. Happiness also depends on experiencing pleasure and getting what you want, when you want it. It can, at times, be a very superficial or fleeting quest.

Finding meaning in life is a deeper pursuit. It requires introspection and isn’t dependent on circumstances like health, wealth, or satisfying all your needs and wants. It takes into consideration the past, present, and future. When you find your purpose or meaning, it energizes you for a lifetime.

Neurologist and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl survived the holocaust, so he has a unique perspective on thriving despite adverse circumstances. Some of his wisdom on the topic of what life is about is shown in the following quotes:

• “Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.”
• “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
• “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”
• “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
• “Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’.”
• “Each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.”

Dr. Roy Baumeister, a Francis Eppes Professor of Psychology at Florida State University, studied the differences and similarities between living a happy life and living a meaningful life. While other researchers don’t always agree with his findings, they do provide much food for thought. 

He suggests that…

• Pure happiness is about getting what we want in life; meaningfulness is connected with giving and sacrifice.
• Happiness comes from what others give to us; meaningfulness comes from giving to other people.
• Happiness is connected to the benefits one receives from friendships; meaningfulness is associated with providing for close family, i.e., children.
• Happiness doesn’t tolerate worry, stress, or anxiety; meaningfulness rises above these challenges.
• Happiness isn’t dependent on self-expression of your personal and cultural identity; meaningfulness is.

Time after time, century-old wisdom is proven true: Life is not about pursuing pleasure only, since it isn’t the main source of happiness or meaning. Again, it all comes down to what you know to be true for yourself, because that will determine where you invest your energy.

 “Dream Big, Start Small.” Here’s the one thing you can do today.

Here’s a 1-minute practice to connect with your deeply held values and dreams.

Sit with your feet flat on the floor. Notice the solid ground beneath you.

Place one hand over your heart and take a slow, deep breath.

Ask yourself: “What feels most alive in me right now?”

Notice whether it’s energy, calm, tension, or even a subtle emotion. No judgment, just awareness.

Breathe into that place and quietly affirm: “I honor what is true in me.”

This tiny pause helps your body “vote” on what matters most today, grounding you in the present.

Of course, we can’t always be happy or “up”. What we can cultivate is a steady sense of well-being, a quiet joy, peace of mind, and deep satisfaction that carries us through life’s ups and downs. The low moments aren’t failures; they’re gentle signals that it’s time to pause, replenish your energy, and reflect on whether a course correction is needed.

If you’d like to focus more closely on finding YOUR answer to “what is life about for ME?”, please download my free 7-Point Wellness Assessment and use it as a mindfully-led guide to dig deeply into this very personal topic.