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HAPPINESS – How To Create A Lasting ‘HAPPY’

  • Writer: OYNB
    OYNB
  • Nov 17
  • 3 min read
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HAPPINESS – THE ONE THING WE ALL WANT



Happiness — there isn’t a human being among us who doesn’t want it. Across all continents, whether rich or poor, man or woman – it’s the desire we all share in common.


Yet for many, happiness is elusive. We indulge in things that bring a temporary buzz – shopping sprees, box-set binges, boozy blowouts with mates. Yes, they bring pleasure… but only for a moment.

Then comes the crash. Like a sugar high — spike, then plummet.


No wonder we drink too much if we don’t know how to be truly happy.


(Considering a liver vacation? Try the OneYearNoBeer challenge.)




THE STRUCTURE OF HAPPINESS



For lasting happiness, humans need a combination of things working together.

Just as we need a balanced diet — carbs, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals — we also need a balance of hedonic and eudaimonic happiness.


Eh… eudai-what?

Read on.




HEDONIC & EUDAIMONIC HAPPINESS





HEDONIC = PLEASURE



Hedonic happiness comes from pleasure-seeking and escapist activities.


Immediate gratification.

Fast buzz.

Short-lived.

Needs constant topping up.


Examples:


  • Shopping highs

  • Eating cake

  • Wild nights out

  • That “immediate buzz” feeling





EUDAIMONIC = MEANING & GROWTH



Eudaimonic happiness comes from activities that nurture:


  • meaning

  • mindful engagement

  • contribution

  • achievement

  • personal growth



This is delayed gratification — but the rewards are deeper and longer-lasting.


Examples:


  • Studying for a qualification

  • Raising a family

  • Working toward a fitness or weight goal

  • Volunteering or community involvement



This creates a long-term, stable sense of self-worth and fulfilment.




WHY YOU NEED BOTH



A life based ONLY on hedonic highs is like living on Mars bars — all spikes and crashes.


A life with strong eudaimonic foundations gives emotional resilience.

It sustains you when life punches you in the face (which it will).


When you combine both, you build lasting contentment that can’t be rattled by every bump in the road.




MEET YOUR HAPPY CHEMICALS



Happiness is, quite literally, a chemical cocktail inside your body.


Your thoughts and behaviours release chemicals that create sensations ranging from calmness and bliss to energy and motivation.


Here are the main four:


  • Oxytocin – bonding, love, trust, comfort

  • Serotonin – confidence, mood elevation

  • Endorphins – natural buzz, bliss

  • Dopamine – reward, motivation, energy



A balanced life fires all four appropriately.


⚠️ WARNING: Alcohol severely disrupts these chemicals. WHO classifies it as a depressant.

Curious what alcohol-free happiness feels like? Try a 28-day challenge.




RECOGNISING TRUE HAPPINESS



You’ve likely been conditioned to think hedonic “buzz” = happiness.

But that’s not sustainable.


True, lasting happiness feels different:


  • steady

  • peaceful

  • grounded

  • calm

  • warm

  • with occasional spikes of joy

  • but a stable “glow” in the background



This is the contented glow you see in genuinely happy people.


Happiness could be described as:


The awareness of frequent and lasting positive emotions, and infrequent (not absent) negative emotions — felt as a settled experience.



THE LAST PIECE: NATS (NEGATIVE AUTOMATIC THOUGHTS)



NATS are habitual thought patterns that fuel anxiety and low mood.


Examples include catastrophising, mind-reading, black-and-white thinking, overgeneralising.


When you learn to spot your own NATS, you gain control.

Change your thoughts → change your emotions → change your life.


How to retrain your mind:


  • Notice the thought

  • Ask: “Is this true?”

  • Consider alternative interpretations

  • Replace the unhelpful thought with a grounded one



Over time you literally reset your brain chemistry.




THE HAPPINESS EQUATION



Let’s simplify:


  • HH = Hedonic Happiness

  • EH = Eudaimonic Happiness

  • HC = Happy Chemicals

  • NATS = Negative Automatic Thoughts

  • LH = Lasting Happiness




HH + EH + HC – NATS = LH



Simple.


Live right.

Fire your happy chemicals in healthy ways.

Neutralise negative thinking.

Build habits that make happiness sustainable.


Do this — and living alcohol-free becomes effortless.


Who needs chemical poison to fake a buzz…

when you’re able to generate natural highs on demand?

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