Two millennia ago, Aristotle distinguished between a life lived in pursuit of pleasure, which brings temporary satisfaction, and a life lived according to reason, virtue, and the pursuit of goals , which leads to true happiness . Therapeutic approaches of today tend to agree with Aristotle that fleeting pleasures aren’t enough to make us happy and that a subjective sense of well-being stems largely from the way we live our lives. Three components of happiness have emerged as paramount to well-being across various therapeutic approaches: We need meaningful connections with others; we need to live with a sense of purpose in accordance with our interests and values; and we need to be free from torment by negative thoughts and feelings.

The Korean bestseller Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bo

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