January is the month of new beginnings. It’s also a time for self-examination, self-renewal, self-blame and maybe even a little self-flagellation. And while we usually give up on trying to create a ‘new me’ by February 1st, we continue to make the same resolutions year after year.
The most important New Year’s resolutions for Spaniards include exercising more, eating healthier, losing weight, saving money, spending more time with family, learning something new and quitting smoking or cutting down on alcohol. These reflect universal desires for better health and personal development. Still, if one looks more closely at what people really want, I think it’s about being content and at peace with oneself, in mind and body.
Happiness – yes.
Joy – definitely.
But perhaps most of all, contentment.
According to experts, those who search for happiness should wake up every morning with a purpose and end each day with gratitude. This is good general advice, but happiness is a fleeting concept. Like joy, it is a feeling that does not endure. Perhaps that is why it is described as a rush of happiness.
Contentment, on the other hand, is a more stable state of mind. It is a somewhat old-fashioned expression, mostly used by people of a certain age, like myself. That does not make it any less universal. Contentment can be defined as a persistent feeling that one’s needs, desires or goals are being fulfilled, often accompanied by acceptance and inner peace. It does not suggest a passive acceptance of everything that comes our way, nor an end to self-improvement.
Perhaps that is what Aristotle meant when he described eudaimonia as the highest human good - the ultimate aim of life that is desirable for its own sake and not for the sake of anything else. Because isn’t that what we all want – whether we have an extra kilo or a wrinkle or that fancy sports car, or not?
Whatever the new year brings, meet it with openness, wonder and gratitude. None of us can be in a permanent state of bliss. It is only in fairy tales that people live happily ever after.