Frode,
I love your post on true motivation.

Filling the body with values, and don’t think about the paycheck.

This is an important key to living a fulfilling life and therefore be happy. The money will come by itself when we provide superior value to others.

I am so lucky that money is no object in my current job. So I work for other reasons. And when it comes down to happines I found out that adding value to myself and other is very important. After working at my company for two years, not for the money but for the challenge and fun I wrote this article that is the secret to why I am happy at work. (http://properpants.blogspot.com/2008/06/true-motivation.html)

At home I am deeply greatful to my wife and kids that makes me happy everyday :)

You are right “difference between one person to another is the horizon of happiness they seek”, what I want to say is even this short-term or long-term isn’t actually happiness but ‘happiness at a glance’, a glimpse of happiness which is temporary, even if the achievement which is the reason behind this happiness is permanent. This happiness will cease, as after some time he will find happiness at a new destination.

I feel that whether its short term happiness or long term happiness, whether a person is good or bad, whether he is a criminal or a politician. Everybody has his own priority and things to do, which are decided by the society as good or bad.

Now, here I feel that the underlying current, a deep rooted motive behind all these actions by these so called good and bad people is actually a search for happiness. Whatever they do, is just there way of reaching that destination. Just like water which flows through all the way to ocean, whether its drinking water or dirty water if it is poured on floor or soil it will automatically take that path.

Hope you won’t mind, but that’s what I feel.

Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.

As you said, it may be subconscious but happiness is our motive. Perhaps the difference between one person to another is the horizon of happiness they seek. Some people seek long-term happiness while some other just seek short-term “happiness” (short-term pleasure, actually).

I think happiness is a secret motive of every human being, a motive which is subconscious, we aren’t ourselves aware of its existence. What ever we do, we want to do it right, be successful in it because it gives happiness to us.

We go to school, find a job, love and get married for fun and satisfaction which to give a sense of achievement and a reason to be happy.