# Emily Esfahani Smith: There's more to life than being happy

Our culture is obsessed with happiness, but what if there's a more fulfilling path? Happiness comes and goes, says writer Emily Esfahani Smith, but having meaning in life — serving something beyond yourself and developing the best within you — gives you something to hold onto. Learn more about the difference between being happy and having meaning as Esfahani Smith offers four pillars of a meaningful life.

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2017
- By: TED.com
- Genres: Education
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/EmilyEsfahaniSmith_2017)
- Licence or status: [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) (as the archive states it)
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/EmilyEsfahaniSmith_2017?play=1)