The Science of Happiness

"Don't Worry, Be Happy."  Bobby McFerrin.

"Don't worry be happy."

The older we get the more experience we have and the better we get to know ourselves. Life’s journey is lumpy, it goes in one direction but with ups and downs, even sideways. One regular visitor to the USA, who married twice there and in every decade since the 1970s he has spent time in the country. In the earlier decades he called the USA a happy country in recent years he now views the USA as deeply divided and fundamentally unhappy. Many reasons offered, partly economic, partly philosophical, partly educational and partly subversive.

Individual Happiness.

Happiness is a deeply personal emotion. How I feel happiness will be very different to how you or anyone else feels it. There must be some commonalities describing happiness we can all agree on, even if how we feel it is uniquely personal.

·        Contentment. Being satisfied with your life, with your wellbeing.

·         Positive experience. All the positive feelings of love, gratitude, joy, laughter and excitement.

·        A purpose. Feeling what you do is of value, contributing positive efforts to something larger than yourself.

·        Strong connections with family and friends.

·        Being able to cope with adversity, we all have them.

·        Living in the present, finding joy in what is happening now.

What the experts say.

People make a serious study of happiness. There is general agreement among them in the statements below.

These three words standout in understanding happiness. Enjoyment, Satisfaction, Meaning.

50% is genetics, 50% is circumstance. Circumstance is money, beauty, friends, independence and other factors.

Happiness is individual, it is what you do and think that raises or lowers it. Working on habits in these four areas improves your happiness quotient.

1.        Have a purpose bigger than yourself, be it spiritual or service and participation.

2.        Family.

3.        Friends, real as opposed to superficial.

4.        Work, earning your success in your career or business, or serving others in the local community, or international.

Happy individuals, happy communities.

Individually happiness is a personal responsibility. However, due to today’s economic environment under a President causing havoc around the world, the cost of living is rocketing. This puts stress on everyone, making for unhappy communities, unhappy nations. It is trying times, earth shattering; whatever comes we must cope. “Don’t worry, be happy.”