One of the most common myths about happiness is believing that happiness is the absence of problems. However, problems are not only inevitable, but a part of a happy life. Sounds paradoxical, right? Well, happiness entails several paradoxes, especially if we understand it from the cultural concepts that we brought more than 200 years ago.

The science of happiness is leading us to understand integral well-being from the concept of antifragility or strengthening. In other words, we could indistinctly use the words happiness, well-being and antifragility. Because what all the happiness practices of the SPIRE model lead us to is precisely to become more and more unperturbed, more serene, stronger – no matter what.

It is precisely the difficulties that challenge us, the ones that make us bring out the best within us, to know ourselves in the moments of truth, to practice what we have learned, so that after a while we can see those who made it difficult for us as " the beautiful enemies" of which Ralph Waldo Emerson speaks.

So, in the midst of normal human anguish, it is about not struggling to take it away, but about acceptance and infinitely thanking and putting yourself above that, elevating the spirit. In this way, difficulties will not be seen as punishments but as blessings that invite you to bring out the best that is within you.

In the club´s website, in the resources section, you will find a lot of additional information about this topic so that you can continue learning and training your antifragility, that is, your happiness.

Visit our website to check out the variety of materials to help you expand your knowledge base, grow your happiness toolset, and support your practice and teachings, including research, podcasts, videos, articles, movies, and books recommended for this topic.

Each month, our Education Committee adds resources based on a theme related to HSA’s certificate in happiness program. With dozens of resources per topic, each one has its page.

If you have a suggestion to add to the resources, please let us know!