State of Flourishing

A State of Flourishing is a positive emotion that represents optimal well-being and personal growth, where an individual thrives emotionally, mentally, and socially.

• Context:
  • It can involve a sense of purpose, meaning, and achievement in life.
  • It can include high levels of Subjective Well-Being and Positive Psychological Functioning.
  • It can manifest through Positive Relationships, a sense of Competence, and the realization of one's Virtues or personal strengths.
  • It can be promoted through practices of Mindfulness, Gratitude, and Purposeful Living.
  • It can be measured by tools such as the Flourishing Scale, which assesses key indicators of well-being.
  • It can be influenced by factors such as Resilience, Optimism, and Emotional Intelligence.
  • It can be fostered through active engagement in Virtuous Activities, Goal-Setting, and pursuing a Balanced Life.
  • …
• Example(s):
  • a person thriving in their career, relationships, and personal development.
  • an individual who feels deeply fulfilled by their life purpose and contributions to society.
  • a community member actively participating in social and altruistic activities, experiencing a sense of flourishing.
  • a person balancing physical, emotional, and mental health through healthy lifestyle choices and positive social connections.
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • Languishing.
• See: Positive Psychology, Virtue, Subjective Well-Being, State of Thriving.

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References

2021

• (Wikipedia, 2021) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flourishing Retrieved:2021-12-17.
  • Flourishing is "when people experience positive emotions, positive psychological functioning and positive social functioning, most of the time," living "within an optimal range of human functioning." It is a descriptor and measure of positive mental health and overall life well-being, and includes multiple components and concepts, such as cultivating strengths, subjective well-being, "goodness, generativity, growth, and resilience." Flourishing is the opposite of both pathology and languishing, which are described as living a life that feels hollow and empty. It is a central concept in positive psychology, developed by Corey Keyes and Barbara Fredrickson.

2018

• (Pinker, 2018) ⇒ Steven Pinker. (2018). “Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.” Penguin. ISBN:0525427570
  • QUOTE:

    ... “One student asks: Why should I live?

     Steven Pinker answers: In the very act of asking that question, you are seeking reasons for your convictions, and so you are committed to reason as the means to discover and justify what is important to you. And there are so many reasons to live! As a sentient being, you have the potential to flourish. You can refine your faculty of reason itself by learning and debating. You can seek explanations of the natural world through science, and insight into the human condition through the arts and humanities. You can make the most of your capacity for pleasure and satisfaction, which allowed your ancestors to thrive and thereby allowed you to exist. You can appreciate the beauty and richness of the natural and cultural world. As the heir to billions of years of life perpetuating itself, you can perpetuate life in turn. You have been endowed with a sense of sympathy — the ability to like, love, respect, help, and show kindness — and you can enjoy the gift of mutual benevolence with friends, family, and colleagues. And because reason tells you that none of this is particular to you, you have the responsibility to provide to others what you expect for yourself. You can foster the welfare of other sentient beings by enhancing life, health, knowledge, freedom, abundance, safety, beauty, and peace. History shows that when we sympathize with others and apply our ingenuity to improving the human condition, we can make progress in doing so, and you can help to continue that progress.” ...

    ... countries that combine free markets with more taxation, social spending, and regulation than the United States (such as Canada, New Zealand, and Western Europe) turn out to be not grim dystopias but rather pleasant places to live, and they trounce the United States in every measure of human flourishing, including crime, life expectancy, infant mortality, education, and happiness …

2002

• (Keyes, 2002) ⇒ Corey LM Keyes. (2002). “The Mental Health Continuum: From Languishing to Flourishing in Life.” Journal of health and social behavior

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