One discovery I continue to encounter along life’s journey is that the more I seek happiness, the less I find it. But the more I seek meaning, the more happiness I find.
When you cultivate a meaningful life, happiness often comes as an added bonus. But when happiness is your first pursuit, life lacks meaning, and happiness remains the elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
In 2017, a group of German and American scholars created the “Work Passion Pursuit Questionnaire” (From Strength to Strength, 208). They compared the job satisfaction of people whose primary goal at work was enjoyment with that of people whose primary goal was finding meaning in their work. Among the 1,357 people in their sample, the researchers found that enjoyment seekers had less passion for their work and changed jobs more frequently than meaning seekers.
This is a prime example of the two kinds of happiness scholars refer to as hedonia and eudaimonia. Hedonia is about feeling good; eudaimonia is about living a purpose-filled life. The 2017 study on job satisfaction suggests that hedonia without eudaimonia devolves into empty pleasure, while eudaimonia without hedonia can become mechanical and joyless.
In other words, we need both. We begin by pursuing a meaningful life, while recognizing that the added ingredient of happiness leads to a fuller experience of that primary pursuit.
Jesus gave us the foundation for a meaningful life—one that also produces ripples of happiness. He said, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:38). Faith in Jesus leads to living water. There is no greater meaning in life than following Him, and no joy is greater than experiencing His living water flowing from the wellspring of our hearts.
Here is my struggle: Every time I make happiness my target, I miss because happiness is a moving target. But Jesus is always there, welcoming me into a deeper relationship with Him. He gives me a meaningful life regardless of my occupation, family status, or net worth.
Ask yourself: What is my primary pursuit in life? Am I simply flitting from one moment of happiness to the next, only to be left feeling empty and joyless? What do I need to do to make Jesus my main pursuit so that, in Him, I can live a meaningful life in which happiness comes as a welcome bonus?
When Jesus becomes our pursuit, we discover something far better than fleeting happiness: we find a life of meaning, purpose, and lasting joy.
