Happiness

Happiness

The topic of happiness seems to be cropping up everywhere lately.  I am not sure if you noticed but The Pursuit of Happyness was a blockbuster hit at the movies last year.  Oprah devoted her daytime special to a show on “happiness” for a second time last month, back by popular demand.  And believe it or not, according to the Boston Globe, the #1 attended class at Harvard University teaches happiness.  That is right, “Positive Psychology”

has more enrolled students than “Introductory Economics”.  Now Tal Ben-Shahar, the teacher of this popular college class, has published his best seller, Happier.

What is happiness?  Why is everyone in search of it?  And can you really find the secret to a happy life?  These are the questions everyone wants the answers to.

If you search for books about happiness on Amazon, 213,494 entries come up. That is a lot of books on happiness. There is the Art of Happiness, Authentic Happiness and The Architecture of Happiness. You can find Happiness Now, The History of Happiness or Happiness in a Storm. Even Anna Quindlen got in on the act with A Short Guide to a Happy Life.

So what is going on…has the search for the fountain of youth been replaced with the search for everlasting happiness?

As a country, we have always been interested in happiness.  In our own Declaration of Independence it is written, “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”.

 Happiness seems to come in three different packages.  

There is temporary happiness, like the moment you find out you actually have some of the winning numbers in the Lotto drawing.  That is intense, but it is also fleeting, like when your power ball turns out to be a 6 instead of the winning 9. 

Then there is sustained emotional happiness where you experience deeper, more meaningful moments of joy because you love someone or you stand up for something you believe in.

And finally there is lifelong happiness. That is what most of us are searching for. We want to find a way to enjoy every single day of our lives regardless of our circumstances.  It is a state of well being, serenity and blissful peace we want to capture and keep.

One way of knowing just how happy you are is to take the “How Happy Are You?” test.  Oprah gave this test to her audience members.  Simply answer these 5 statements in terms of how true they are in your own life.

#1 In most ways my life is close to ideal.

#2 The conditions of my life are excellent. 

#3 I am satisfied with my life.

#4 So far I have gotten the important things in life.

#5 If I had to live my life over, I would change almost nothing.

If you can answer “absolutely true” to all 5 of them, you may have found true happiness.

Research has shown that happy people live longer, enjoy better health and function better.

Dr. Myles Munro, a minister and international best selling author, believes that although many of us seem to be enjoying a huge degree of outward success, there are a growing number of people who are inwardly bankrupt.

He summarizes the problem by saying this, “It seems that our society has confused success with fulfillment, accomplishment with satisfaction and achievement with peace”.  

In your own search for happiness, these simple steps may be enormously helpful.

Be yourself!!  It is only through being whom you truly are that you will find your ultimate purpose and destiny.  Purpose is the single most important source of personal fulfillment we have.  Don’t let the world’s standard of success determine what you stand for or who you are going to be.

Have Faith!!  Believing in God gives you a foundation to handle the daily trials and tribulations that come in every day life.  

Count Your Blessings!!  We all have a lot to be thankful about. We live in an outstanding community and are surrounded by vast natural beauty.  We have friends and family that love us, food on our tables, and children tucked safely into bed at night. Our riches overflow and our gifts are abundant.

Surround yourself with positive people!!  Make sure the people you spend time with encourage you, support you, compliment you, include you and make time for you. 

Give something away every day!! A smile, a home cooked meal, a moment of your time, a compliment, an apology, a ride to a tired cleaning lady, a dollar to the man on the corner grate.  Whatever you give away, always comes back around. 

Finally, find something you enjoy doing and do it!!  Having something to look forward to is another key ingredient to enjoying life.  Take that class you’ve been thinking about, book that trip to your dream destination and eat those chocolate chip cookies.  As a good friend of mine constantly reminds me, “This is not a dress rehearsal!”