lives psychologically richer [compared with happier
(27.6 percent) or more meaningful (37.4 percent)].
These findings suggest that while most people do
strive to be happy and have meaning and purpose in
their lives, a sizable number of people are content merely
living a psychologically rich existence. Indeed, other
emerging research suggests that for a lot of people, the
intensity of the experience matters more than merely
how “positive” or “negative” it was. As Oishi and his col-
leagues conclude, “we believe that taking the psycholog-
ically rich life seriously will deepen, broaden and, yes,
enrich our understanding of well-being.”
At the end of the day, there is no one singularly accept-
able path to the good life. You have to find a path that
works best for you.
As Nietzsche put it: “No one can build you the bridge
on which you, and only you, must cross the river of life.
There may be countless trails and bridges and demigods
who would gladly carry you across, but only at the price
of pawning and forgoing yourself. There is one path in
the world that none can walk but you. Where does it
lead? Don’t ask, walk!”
The philosopher also noted, however, that it is “an
agonizing, hazardous undertaking thus to dig into one-
self, to climb down roughly and directly into the tunnels
of one’s being.”
If you dig deep into the tunnels of your being and real-
ize that the best path for you is to live a life full of rich
and complex ideas, emotions and experiences (which
sometimes can be negative but ultimately conducive to
growth), then I hope this research shows you that this is
not necessarily a lonely path. There are plenty of people
in the world who crave the psychologically rich life and
who even prioritize novelty, variety, complexity, inten-
sity, depth and surprise in their daily lives. M
➦^17YWZZQQSF