Be happy!
One of my mantras in my recent years has been "Happiness is a choice."
It's not very easy to remember this though, sometimes. But it has served me well, in putting things,life, and well, happiness, in perpective. It gives me a semblance of control of the course of my life, and I realize that there is more to life than chance and circumnstance.
An interesting article on CNN.com today says that when making a choice to be happy, it should be, naturally, the right one. Apparently, there has been many unwarranted assumptions on what brings about happiness.
As it's been said many times, money cannot buy happiness. The truth is, "money buys happiness only for those who lack the basic needs. Once you pass an income of $50,000, more money doesn't buy much more happiness." (To us, 50,000 American dollars, a month OR a year, may be a lot of money to aspire for, but one needs to put that in the context of purchasing power in the US too.) So are the we any happier (or less so) than the enormously wealthy, then?
Our ideas of happiness also limit us to "see either perpetual gloom or happily ever-after scenarios. In fact, neither unhappiness nor joy last as long as we expect. As you've probably guessed, winning the lottery will not guarantee a life of bliss."
According to the article, a survey has findings on what makes us happy:
* Married people are happier than singles.
* College grads are happier than those without a college degree.
* People who were religious are happier than those who aren't.
* Sunbelt residents are happier than other U.S. residents.
* Republicans are happier than Democrats -- but both are happier than independents.
It also says that having children gives a slightly negative effect on happiness. (I imagine that it's true, in a certain context. Raising kids, no matter how rewarding or fulfilling, is very stressful.)
One of the experts referred to said that we all have an innate level of happiness, and "the best we can do is boost our happiness a little bit above this natural 'set point.'" And that it's in the small things we can do every day that bring us joy, whether it's going for a walk or cooking a meal or reading a book.
The choice, then, is to choose attainable happiness, and not an illusion of what-can-be. Such that another expert points out that we should stop thinking that we, and are reactions to the world and our path to attaining happiness, is so unique. In fact, we take a look at those people who live the life we are aspiring for and find how how happy they are. Most of us, he says, will reject such an analysis---on the illusion that we believe we are so unique from everyone else.
So, yes, I stick by my mantra, with a little addendum to it. Happiness is a choice---and a result of the right choices.
Read the article here.
It's not very easy to remember this though, sometimes. But it has served me well, in putting things,life, and well, happiness, in perpective. It gives me a semblance of control of the course of my life, and I realize that there is more to life than chance and circumnstance.
An interesting article on CNN.com today says that when making a choice to be happy, it should be, naturally, the right one. Apparently, there has been many unwarranted assumptions on what brings about happiness.
As it's been said many times, money cannot buy happiness. The truth is, "money buys happiness only for those who lack the basic needs. Once you pass an income of $50,000, more money doesn't buy much more happiness." (To us, 50,000 American dollars, a month OR a year, may be a lot of money to aspire for, but one needs to put that in the context of purchasing power in the US too.) So are the we any happier (or less so) than the enormously wealthy, then?
Our ideas of happiness also limit us to "see either perpetual gloom or happily ever-after scenarios. In fact, neither unhappiness nor joy last as long as we expect. As you've probably guessed, winning the lottery will not guarantee a life of bliss."
According to the article, a survey has findings on what makes us happy:
* Married people are happier than singles.
* College grads are happier than those without a college degree.
* People who were religious are happier than those who aren't.
* Sunbelt residents are happier than other U.S. residents.
* Republicans are happier than Democrats -- but both are happier than independents.
It also says that having children gives a slightly negative effect on happiness. (I imagine that it's true, in a certain context. Raising kids, no matter how rewarding or fulfilling, is very stressful.)
One of the experts referred to said that we all have an innate level of happiness, and "the best we can do is boost our happiness a little bit above this natural 'set point.'" And that it's in the small things we can do every day that bring us joy, whether it's going for a walk or cooking a meal or reading a book.
The choice, then, is to choose attainable happiness, and not an illusion of what-can-be. Such that another expert points out that we should stop thinking that we, and are reactions to the world and our path to attaining happiness, is so unique. In fact, we take a look at those people who live the life we are aspiring for and find how how happy they are. Most of us, he says, will reject such an analysis---on the illusion that we believe we are so unique from everyone else.
So, yes, I stick by my mantra, with a little addendum to it. Happiness is a choice---and a result of the right choices.
Read the article here.