You can’t open a social media app, read a newspaper or watch something on YouTube or it’s about how to get happy. Influencers show off how happy they are. Advertisers show how happy you’ll be when you buy their product. Apparently we all want to be happy and the approach seems to be to engage in hedonistic behaviors, like drinking and partying, or to aspire to some societal ideals like the perfect family Christmas. Once we achieve that, we’ll be happy. The challenge is that happiness is a fleeting emotion. A temporary high after reaching some challenge or accomplishment. And the more we grasp for it and try to hold on to it, the more rapidly it disappears again and we return to our baseline that seems to mostly be driven by genetics. Instead, I think we would benefit from living meaningful lives. Lives that are driven by purpose and intentionality. A life that you don’t want to escape from but where you get out of bed every morning to work on something that you have decided gives meaning to your life. This doesn’t have to be grand. It doesn’t have to be something others recognise or appreciate. It has to be what gives meaning and purpose to your life. So, instead of trying to be happy, use the upcoming holiday season to reflect on what makes your life meaningful and what you can do to add more of that to it.