As mapped by psychologist Daniel Nettle, via John Kay’s ‘Obliquity’…
1) Short-term: Momentary physical responses - e.g laughter, sex, etc
2) Intermediate: ’State of mind’ happiness - a sense of satisfaction or well-being. This typically arises from an internal judgment on our feelings, rather than the feelings themselves… e.g ‘I feel content at the moment’ may be the upshot of lots of momentary physical responses
3) Long-term: ‘Eudaimonia’… A concept originally propounded by Aristotle, translated as ‘flourishing’ (though I think it literally means something like ‘good guardian spirits’). This is more about contentment in a long-term sense: fulfiling potential, achieving life goals, etc.
Of course, Eckhart Tolle would say you can only find happiness in the short-term because the future doesn’t exist. But there you go.
