The Pleasant Path

Becoming lastingly happier demands making some permanent changes that require effort and commitment every day of our lives. Pursuing happiness takes work but this may be the most rewarding work we will ever do.

Why should we be happy?  Well, scientific evidence reveals many compelling reasons to aspire for greater happiness and fulfillment. It turns out that happiness brings with it multiple fringe benefits. Studies showed that when compared with their less happy peers, happier people are more sociable and energetic, more charitable and cooperative, and better liked by others. Not surprisingly, happier people are more likely to get married and to stay married. They also have richer networks of friends and social support, while actually show more flexibility and ingenuity in their thinking and are more productive in their jobs. They are better leaders and negotiators and earn more money. It is important to mention that in the face of hardship they are more resilient, have stronger immune systems, and are physically healthier, in sum happier people live longer.

However, there are three major myths about happiness that we tend to fall for. The first one is that happiness must be found. The second is that genetics will determine one’s happiness, and the third is that happiness depends on life circumstances. The truth, as research has proven, is that there is a 40 percent of our happiness that is determined just by intentional activity. Happiness is not out there for us to find, and the reason that it is not out there is that it is inside of us. It is a state of mind, a way of perceiving and approaching ourselves and the world in which we reside. Therefore, if we want to be happy today, tomorrow, and for the rest of our lives, we can do it by choosing to change and manage our state of mind in our current circumstances. Many of us, especially those of us who may not be very happy, believe that our unhappiness is genetic, and that there is not much we can do about it. That is simply not true, growing research demonstrates that we can overcome our genetic programming. As significant as our major life events are to each of us, studies suggest that they actually determine a tiny percentage of our happiness. Many past investigations reveal that all life circumstances and situations put together, account as mentioned before, for only about 10 percent in how happy different people are. Therefore this leaves us with a question: What about genetics? Do genes predestine us to be happy or unhappy? Empirical data from different studies led to the conclusion that the genetic basis for happiness is strong. It appears that each of us is born with a happiness set point, a characteristic potential for happiness throughout our lives. Whether is comes from our maternal or paternal side of the family, the essential point is that even if major life changes might push our happiness level up or down, we tend to revert to this genetically determined set point. Evidence for this phenomenon comes from studies that follow people over time as they react to good and bad things happening in their lives. However, because our happiness set point is fixed, it does not mean that our happiness level cannot be changed. In fact, we can rise above our happiness set points just as we can rise above our set points for weight and cholesterol. Thus, we can positively conclude that our genes do not determine our life experience and behavior -Sonja Lyubormisky says in her book The How of Happiness- . Our “hard wiring” can be dramatically influenced by our experience and our behavior, and there is a great deal of room to improve our happiness by the things we do, our intentional activities.