The Third Path

Not happiness. Not meaning. Something wilder, deeper, more alive.

For decades, researchers told us there were two ways to live a good life. Chase happiness, full of positive emotions and pleasant experiences. Or pursue meaning, driven by purpose and personal fulfillment. Pick your lane and optimize accordingly.

However, Dr. Erin Westgate at the University of Florida kept encountering individuals who had both happiness and meaning, yet still felt something was missing. They were successful, grateful, and purposeful. And restless.

“Why do some people feel unfulfilled even when they have happy and meaningful lives?” she wondered.

The answer, it turns out, wasn’t that they needed more of what they had. They needed something entirely different…