**Tuesday, December 20, 2022 - 5 pm - Webinar** Do you constantly obsess about being happy? Well, you are not alone. It appears that many Americans share this national proclivity. These pervasive desires with how to be the wealthiest, the most powerful or famous, take up a lot of psychic energy, and the end results are not too impressive. Despite the myriad of self-help books out there, we Americans are among the most anxious people on earth. At this time of year, it is particularly noticeable with people struggling to make their holiday celebrations perfect and feeling guilt-tripped into spending money they don’t have on gifts that aren’t needed. So, we are taking a stop and asking, is there a better way? We suggest that you inhale the sweet spices of the season and join us to consider some fresh thinking on the subject. **AVRAM ALPERT**, writer and educator, shares his ideas from _The Good-Enough Life_, suggesting how an acceptance of our own limitations can lead to a more fulfilling life and a more harmonious society. ”Obsessing about greatness has given us an epidemic of stress, anxiety, inequality and ecological damage,” according to Alpert who is a writer and teacher, and currently a Research Fellow at The New Institute in Hamburg where he is working on a book on wisdom. He previously taught at Princeton and Rutgers. **KIERAN SETIYA**, a professor of philosophy at MIT provides a refreshing and realistic antidote to many of the platitudes pushed by our contemporary American self-improvement industry. His latest book _Life is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help us Find our Way_ suggests that trying to live a perfect life in difficult circumstances only brings dismay. Much in life that makes us miserable can neither be changed nor ignored, so we need to come to terms with reality. Both guests challenge the notion that happiness should be life’s primary pursuit – arguing we might be better served by living well within our means, acknowledging some difficult truths and concentrating on leading a meaningful life instead? Embracing the “good-enough” life might be preferable to hankering for the perfect one, and we might just stumble across happiness in the process. Join this stimulating discussion for some useful suggestions about how to maintain our humanity, in challenging times. Photo credit : Pexels.com - Pixabay
