can there be happiness in dullness?

The past few days have had me wondering what our motivations were to do anything long term and what that meant for our happiness. Are we happiest when our reward is in the future or the present? Are we happiest when we do something for ourselves or for others? Do we have to like the path to the reward to be ultimately content or does contentedness depend on finding joy in the present? Are we happier when we reach a goal or when the goal matters less than the journey there? Can we find happiness when the means aren’t the ends?1 As someone with ADHD, I require a lot of motivation to keep at a task. It is easiest for me to finish something if the process itself is fun. For example, I wouldn’t push through a degree that promises good social standing when the curriculum is of no interest to me. I’ve tried that in the past, but that was a personal low I don’t want to get into. It suffices to say that I wasn’t happy with the promise of a good end—the path there had to be enticing by itself.…