A better goal than happiness is captured by the Greek word eudaimonia. It is often misleadingly translated as “happiness”, but “flourishing” is more accurate. Aristotle thought this was the highest human good. To flourish is to live the best kind of life an organism can live. A blooming rose, a cat freely roaming its territory, or an eagle hunting its prey are all flourishing. For us, flourishing means using all our faculties, especially the distinctively human ones. Aristotle gave pride of place to reason – which is rather convenient for a philosopher. We might also include creativity, altruism and craftmanship.
When we live a flourishing life, we are generally happier. But we are not always or necessarily happy. The tortured genius may be flourishing, and most of us have our ups and downs.
It’s good to be happy, but so long as we are not debilitatingly miserable what really matters is to be the best life we can, becoming the best people we can be. Worrying about how heavy we should be doesn’t help us to flourish – or even to be happier.