In general, happiness is understood as the positive emotions we have in regards to the pleasurable activities we take part in through our daily lives. Pleasure, comfort, gratitude, hope, and inspiration are examples of positive emotions that increase our happiness and move us to flourish.
Family and other social relationships appear to be key factors correlated with happiness. Studies show that married people report being happier than those who are single, divorced, or widowed (Diener et al., 1999).
There are many different types of happiness that you can attain: joy, excitement, gratitude, pride, optimism, contentment and love, to name a few. Each person has something unique that makes them happy. As you become more self-aware, you'll be able to reach a new level of contentment.
They found three distinct sources of happiness: Pleasure, Challenge and Meaning. These are the ingredients of all things that make us happy and they can be combined in different ways. Ideally we would spend most of our time doing things that include one, two or even all three sources.
The Growing with Gratitude programs are built on the five habits of happiness – gratitude, kindness, empathy, service and positive reflection – to encourage greater resilience and contentment.
The Three Keys to Happiness
Scientists have found that the three things that make people most happy are PLEASURE (doing things you enjoy), ENGAGEMENT (feeling interested in your activities and connected to others), and MEANING (feeling like what you do matters).
According to many researchers, strong social relationships are the most important contributor to enduring happiness for most people. Those who are happiest generally devote a great amount of time to their family, friends, and colleagues. They nurture and enjoy those relationships.
The following is a summary of Russell's suggestions for “escaping from psychological sources of misery” — zest, affection, family, work, perspective, balance and radiance.
World Happiness Report 2023 leverages six factors “to help explain variation in self-reported levels of happiness across the world” – social support, income, health, freedom, generosity, and absence of corruption.
Here is an overview of some of the good stuff that research has linked to happiness. Happiness is good for our health: Happier people are less likely to get sick, and they live longer. Happiness is associated with more satisfying romantic relationships as well as stronger friendships.
Meaning is the deepest form of happiness. It is the feeling that we get when we believe that our lives have purpose and that we are contributing to something greater than ourselves. This type of happiness often comes from helping others, pursuing a noble cause, or making a meaningful impact on the world.
Let's go way back and borrow some philosophy from Aristotle. The Greek philosopher, who made significant contributions to many areas of human knowledge, laid out four levels of happiness: Laetus, felix, beatitudo and sublime beatitudo.
True happiness comes from within. Finding true happiness in life does not depend on external factors such as material possessions, money, work success, or living circumstances. While these factors all impact our lives to different degrees, it is possible to be truly happy irrespective of our abundance or lack of them.
Giving their undivided attention, showing admiration, talking about themselves only when asked to, following through, sharing their vulnerabilities, being curious about others, and offering their help, are all habits charming people usually have in common.
The Seven Habits model, by Stephen Covey, proposes that our paradigms affect how we interact with others, which in turn affects how they interact with us. Per this theory, one must begin addressing problems by examining our own character, paradigms, and motives.
Liking yourself or having a positive self-image is an important factor in achieving happiness. When you like and accept yourself, you are more likely to engage in healthy behaviours, pursue meaningful goals, and form positive relationships with others.
happiness, in psychology, a state of emotional well-being that a person experiences either in a narrow sense, when good things happen in a specific moment, or more broadly, as a positive evaluation of one's life and accomplishments overall—that is, subjective well-being.
True happiness is enjoying your own company and living in peace and harmony with your body, mind and soul. To be truly happy, you don't need other people or material things. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort and living a life of purpose.