HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE ...

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Created on Tuesday, 08 July 2014 08:28

Written by Marian Moore

 

Marian @ Krysan

THE WELLBEING CONSULTANCY

Planting Golden Seeds in Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, and Durham

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 (1) You have brains in your head.  You have feet in your shoes.  You can steer yourself any direction you choose.  (2) Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.  Dr Seuss

  

 

I Believe

 

You Can Learn to be Happy

 

by 

Marian Moore

 

10 July 2014

Dear Friends

Inform, persuade, inspire ... 

Once again I set out to inform, persuade and inspire concerning something dear to my heart, the study of wellbeing. Bear with me; this blog could change your life!  

I ask nothing in return, other than you too count your blessings and become (at least) a tad happier in your life and in your relationships. 

May we grant one another the opportunity to live out our dreams, to care for  the wounded child in one another, and to pass on to others still unborn an earth as alive and diverse and wondrous as the one we have inherited. 

The Spirituality Flower says it all.  Over to you.

Marian @ Krysan

The study of wellbeing ... 

 

Ten years ago, I chanced upon the work of a Positive Psychologist named Tal Ben-Shahar, a young man busy making a name for himself in scholarly circles at Harvard University.  I bought his book on happiness, the first of many on the self-same subject, and was now on my way to developing a fascination for Positive Psychology or the Science of Happiness.  

This is also known in some circles (mine) as the Study of Wellbeing!

Like many other people around the world, the strategies relating to the Science of Happiness have changed my life for the better and beyond recognition. I am pretty sure regular visitors will have spotted blogs on gratitude, savouring, flourishing, mindfulness, positivity, wonder (and such like) popping up now and again on this website.

I truly believe we can learn to be happy.

And, I am not the only one!  Today, I came across this YouTube video on the Science of Happiness which I have watched and believe you, too, will enjoy. I know it is longer than the usual electronic offering I send your way (over an hour), but it is from an expert in the field (in my opinion) well-worth watching.

And so, I have pleasure in introducing you to:

• Tal Ben-Shahar speaking on The Science of Happiness
• Check out this video on YouTube:
• http://youtu.be/5-RVECUWOGQ

What's your story ... 

 

Consider your story (we've all got one) and ask the over-arching question, 'What’s keeping me from being happy right now?'  

• Is it my job?  
• Is it my boss at work?  
• Is it my health?  
• Is it my relationship with my partner or children?
• Is it the weather?  
• Is it my age, my looks, the amount of money in my bank account?
• Is it the world situation?  
• Is it my father’s or mother's health?  

Pinpoint the statement that best applies to you and write down the story connected to it. Then ask the following four questions about your statement. 

1. Is it true?
2. Can you absolutely know that it’s true?
3. How do you react when you think that thought?
4. Who would you be without the thought? and the turnaround (the exact opposite of the original statement).  Byron Katie
   

It is Byron Katie's experience that when you ask the above four questions and investigate what is preventing you from being happy at this moment, the stories often dissolve in the light of truth.

And now, we're getting to the nitty gritty ...

Happiness is a choice ... 

 

In his book, Curious?, psychologist Dr Todd Kashdan offers a profound new message, but one missing from so many books on happiness.  The message is that the greatest opportunities for joy, purpose, and personal growth don't happen when we're searching for happiness. They happen:

• when we are mindful,
• when we explore what's novel,
• when we live in the moment, and
• when we embrace uncertainty.

In a chapter entitled The Curiosity Advantage: Opening the Gateway to What Makes Life Most Worth Living,  Dr Kashdan begins with Albert Einstein's uniqueness.  We are told when asked about this, 'Einstein didn't blather on about his intelligence, work ethic, happiness, or relationships - he talked about his curiosity'.

Einstein claimed that his accomplishments had to do with an appreciation of the little mysteries of everyday life that others often take for granted.  There was always something he was trying to figure out that others often take for granted; there was always something he didn't understand that he relished trying to figure out.

His drive to search, ask questions, and explore the vast unknown was as important to him as the drive to find answers.  It is an approach to living that is simple to understand and rare in practice.  Even though we may not develop our natural curiosity with Einstein-like devotion, when we act on our curiosity, we feed our brains and are in the greatest position to enrich our lives.  Consider this:

'Most people stop looking when they find the proverbial needle in the haystack.  I would continue looking to see if there were other needles' Albert Einstein

Here then, in Dr Kasdan's book, is a blue print for,

• building lasting meaningful relationships,
• improving health,
• increasing creativity, and
• boosting productivity.  

Aren't you curious to know more?  I certainly am and so cordially invite you to join me again next week.  Look out for CURIOUS? on the side menu.  See you again - soon.

#MHFA 

You can learn to be happy ... 

 

Yesterday, saw the publication of a report entitled: The pursuit of happiness - a new ambition for our mental health. Significant to the idea that you can learn to be happy?  I rather think so. A worthy (if somewhat controversial) document.  

CentreForum Mental Health Commission

July 2014

ENDS

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