[ Eudaimonia ]

I'm rereading Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics in which he claims that the purpose of life is to achieve a state of eudaimonia, a Greek word most often translated as 'happiness'. More accurately tranlated, it is a state of flourishing, a holistic, balanced achievment of a virtuous life that would for most include happiness.

Eudaimonia: a target I am aiming for but often miss, a goal one can attempt but never truly achieve, for reasons which sometimes one has no control over. For example, my recent surgery proved to be a complete failure; a lot of pain for an outcome worse than before I went under the knife. I still am not supposed to do much cardio and the lack of exercise in turn affects my concentration and attention. This affects my ability to think rationally, which Aristotle sees as the way to achieve eudaimonia.