#inspiring essay: HOW TO SCORE MORE HAPPINESS POINTS Recently I played a few app games with my 3 year old son, Ari. Or at least we tried to play. There were no instructions. We did not know the mission of the game. Nor did we know how to get the most points to achieve whatever this mysterious mission might be. Where were we supposed to aim our avatar? At that flashing green thing? Or should we avoid it? Did the blue blobs earn more points than the red blobs – or vice versa? What was the point of earning points? What could we even get with them? Not knowing any of these answers made my son and I feel stressed and unhappy. We did not enjoy playing this app game. At. All. I’m a philosophical gal. I even named my son Ari as a “wink” to Aristotle the philosopher – who I have a platonic crush on. So I wound up thinking about my app unhappiness in a philosophical way. In particular, in an Aristotlean way. I remembered how Aristotle was a big believer that you must begin all projects with the “final ends” in mind. You must know exactly what it is you want to achieve – your mission – before you start any project. This applies to everything from writing a book, to making dinner – or even when it comes to approaching that gigantic project called Your Life. Aristotle said: “Shall we not, like archers who have a mark to aim at, be more likely to hit upon what is right?” When it comes to knowing your mission for life, Aristotle believed your final ends for life are the same as my final ends. In fact, everyone on this planet shares the same final ends for life: Become your best possible self! Plus, Aristotle believed becoming your best self was not only your mission for life – but also what leads to true happiness. Now, a lot of you right now might be wondering what the heck all of this has to do with that app game. It’s simple. My son and I didn’t enjoy playing that app game because Aristotle was right. You must know exactly what you want to achieve – your final ends – your mission – before you begin any project – from playing app games to playing at that gigantic Game of Life. I thought about how unhappy my son and I were when we did not know the final ends for that app game – then I thought about what it takes to create happiness in life – then a realization emerged…. CLICK TO READ MORE...AND GET A TOOL TO HELP YOU SCORE MORE HAPPINESS POINTS!
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 01:22:22 +0000
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