Blogpost 2: Towards Happiness

Happiness is a choice. You prescribe your own happiness. It's really all about the mindset. You are the only one in the way of your own happiness. Yes, there is a lot of negativity in the world but to be happy you have to learn to see past that and focus on everything positive in your life, and love yourself over anyone else. However, what are the secrets towards happiness?

As per Joshua Becker, the writer of "10 Positive Psychology Studies To Change Your View of Happiness", our most fulfilled lives are discovered living for greater causes. He also included how Dr. William Compton describes positive psychology as seeking to make normal life more fulfilling. It is the study of what actions, pursuits and motivations best contribute to the good life. The first positive psychology study if about from wealth to well-being. There is definitely a correlation between wealth and happiness however, money does not lead to nearly as much as happiness as people think it will. Second is about buying experiences , not possessions. Experiences result in an increased well-being than material possessions. Next is the science of gratitude, a little appreciation and forever grateful even on small things is one of the greatest contributing factors to overall happiness. Trust, Morality and Oxytocin, the honesty and the feeling that you understand and share another person's experiences and emotions can result in a happier you. Fifth is about for a better day, the smile, just simple smile can immediately improve your mood and recall pleasant memories. Next is the dynamic spread of happiness, people who are embraced by their families and friends are more likely to become happy in the future. Seventh is about kindness counts. People who are thoughtful as they help can gain personal popularity . Eight is about the people who exercise on work days are happier, it improves the mood and they can be more productive to managed the stress. Next is about volunteers. Evidence suggests volunteering benefits mental health and survival. And the last thing is about spending money on others promotes happiness.Specifically, spending more of one's income on others results in greater happiness.

Joshua said, "People wait all week for Friday, all year for summer and all life for happiness"

I actually believe in what he said. People nowadays especially teenagers, view their happiness based on the Fridays and summer. They always forget to be thankful on small things everyday, their families and friends, the blessings they have and of course for the new mornings as we all wake up everyday. We should realize that we are full of so many great things that we almost forgot the true meaning of happiness because we actually based it on mostly material things.

Another article I've read is about "Positive Psychology and the Science of Happiness" from www.pursuit-of-happiness.org. Many books and articles tackled about the different remedies for human misery. But we need to use the greatest method, the scientific method. Lately, we have seen an upsurge in discovering what makes happy people happy. Fortunately, many of these studies point to specific ways of thinking that can have an impact in our sense of well-being. Through relationships, we express our hearts. We also cultivate kindness by volunteering in an organizations. Through exercise, diet and sleep, there is an evidence that it improves our mental well-being and it lessen our depressive symptoms. Through positive psychology, we should find our flow or we actively trying to reach our goals. This leads to increased positive affect, performance and commitment to long-term and meaningful goals. Also through spiritual engagement, religious organizations provide strong social support from like-minded people, providing various opportunities for socializing, community service and making friends with individuals from a common network. According to experts, in the new field of positive psychology shows that the happiest people are those who discovered their unique strength and virtues for a purpose. The last is about the positive mindset. Optimism has been proven to improve the immune system, prevent chronic disease, and help people cope with unfortunate news. Gratitude is associated with optimism and has been determined that grateful people are happier, receive more social support, are less stressed, and are less depressed. And these are 7 habits of happy people .

According to www.pursuit-of-happiness.org, "The resulting discoveries are enriching the practices of counseling, clinical psychology, psychiatry and life coaching".

I agree with those factors and I am also trying to achieve happiness just like everybody else. Just being alive and being surrounded with those whom I love, makes me happy everyday. It is known that if one is satisfied emotionally, they will feel better on the outside physically and vise-versa. Life is a cycle and in order to keep a positive cycle, one needs to be happy. If the happiness were to break, a bad attitude comes in and things can end up going down hill. Happiness matters to me a lot because it is a simple word, but very complex situation. There are so many ways to achieve happiness and so little time to live everyday to the fullest