{"id":3247,"date":"2023-09-07T20:08:09","date_gmt":"2023-09-07T20:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onenatureinstitute.org\/?p=3247"},"modified":"2023-09-20T20:58:47","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T20:58:47","slug":"happiness-well-being-a-great-divide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onenatureinstitute.org\/stories\/happiness-well-being-a-great-divide\/","title":{"rendered":"Happiness & Well-being: A Great Divide?"},"content":{"rendered":"

One Nature is republishing this with permission from Laura Musikanski (the author).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two questions: What makes you happy? What is well-being?<\/p>\n

What makes you happy is unique to you, just as what makes me happy is unique to me.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For instance, for me, I am most happy spending time with my family, spending time in the mountains, or doing work I believe is important and helpful \u2013 to me and others. And so for me, I define well-being as the circumstances that allow me to be happy \u2013 a warm home, healthy environment, the resources I need to get a job done. Your definition of happiness, and your understanding of the conditions that allow you to be happy are probably similar in some ways to mine, and different in other ways.<\/p>\n

How you define well-being is well-being for you, just how I define well-being is unique to me.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the US, our Declaration of Independence says that it\u2019s the government\u2019s role to ensure (secure and protect\u00a0that all have an inalienable right to \u201cpursue happiness.\u201d I take this to mean that the government is to ensure the conditions that empower us to \u2013 by our own choice and definition \u2013 to be happy. Kind of like fertile soil allows a plant to grow.\u00a0Our government has a hand in whether or not the circumstances of our life improve or harm our well-being. These conditions are:<\/p>\n