The Art of Juggling Happiness

Let’s talk about happiness today, and how difficult it is for scientists to even define it, much less quantify it for us. A focus on happiness has been in the news so much that now its shadow twin, toxic positivity, is making headlines. In this post, happiness is being discussed as one of the large range of emotions that humans feel. It’s nice to feel happy, and not mandatory nor even possible to feel happy all the time. That’s a completely unrealistic goal. What is realistic is for you to learn how to soothe yourself so you can make yourself happier when you choose.  

First, what’s the official working scientific definition of happiness? 

According to Sigmund Freud, happiness has two components: “the absence of pain and unpleasure,” and “the experience of strong feelings of pleasure.” Not much to argue with there, and yet it’s not a satisfying definition, because that definition chases its own tail. According to that definition, to be happy means to not be in pain and to be experiencing pleasure. Pleasure is defined as “a feeling of happy satisfaction and enjoyment” while happy is defined as “feeling pleasure or contentment.”  

So, what the heck is happiness, then?  

According to the founder of the positive psychology movement, Martin Seligman PhD, we experience three kinds of happiness: pleasure and gratification; embodiment of strengths and virtues; and meaning and purpose. The types of happiness build on each other and support each other, just as Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs does. A past President of the American Psychological Association, Dr. Seligman is the pioneer in using the scientific method to study what’s right in people’s minds and lives, uncovering the traits, attitudes, and beliefs that create a happier outlook and life. 

According to happiness researcher and professor Sonja Lyubomirsky, PhD, a person’s chronic happiness level is governed by three major factors: genetics, circumstances, and mental wellbeing activities and practices. As her ongoing research at the University of California Riverside campus has repeatedly shown, using two specific mental wellbeing activities each day for six weeks raises a person’s perceived level of contentment and happiness. The two tools she directs the study participants to use are one substantive conversation and one meditation session per day. After six weeks, the scores on her standardized scale are significantly higher than the baseline. 

Scientists have studied what can and does go wrong inside our brains since 1854, when the first psychological studies were conducted. It’s only been since 1998 that the focus shifted from what creates dysfunction and unhappiness to what works well inside our brains with the emergence of the field of positive psychology. Brain imaging, studies conducted at major universities worldwide, and double-blind scientific research studies are paving the way for people to lead happier, more successful lives. Want a little help without all the scientific jargon? The world’s second-shortest podcast dishes up a new, 90-second-or-less episode daily, and here are three on today’s topic:  

• Need help shifting from negative to positive focus? Here’s a Tiny Bite for that! 
• Need help feeding your soul every day? Here’s a Tiny Bite for that! 
• Need the antidote for “toxic positivity?” Here’s a Tiny Bite for that!  

For today, think about how you can soothe yourself when things aren’t going your way, and how you can move yourself up the emotional scale whenever you’d like to feel happier. And if you need a bit of help, let me know, because teaching people to cultivate their own mental wellbeing is what I love to do.