What is happiness: reflections and advice for a happy life
How to be happy in life is a question that men have been asking themselves for centuries. However, what is happiness really? Science provides its answer but perhaps each of us has his own idea of what this emotion is. Surely a healthy lifestyle is the first step to achieve happiness: discover our tips to always wake up in a good mood by watching the video below!
What is happiness: this is what science thinks about it
Scientists and psychologists all over the world have never stopped wondering about what happiness is and how man can do to improve his life and be happier. Countless studies have been done, so that in recent decades it is even "positive psychology" was born, which aims to investigate the causes that make men happy. According to researchers, those who have a happy life experience significant experiences of joy, together with the belief that their existence is useful and gifted of a purpose.
Daniel Gilbert, a researcher at Harvard University, distinguishes two types of happiness:
- Emotional happiness. It is "the feeling of well-being we feel when we spend a beautiful day with our loved ones, when we take a trip, when we watch the sunset. A" transitory experience linked to the present.
- Moral happiness. The awareness of living a full and fulfilled life, guided by ethics and respectful of one's principles.
The pursuit of happiness can take many years: it means finding meaning in one's existence and sharing it with others. This is also the opinion of the founder of positive psychology, Martin Selingman, who believes that much of the happiness of our lives does not depend on anything "other than ourselves. To be happy men and women we must first find the strength within ourselves. to attract positive situations. After we have made room for these feelings in the soul, happiness will come.
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George Vaillant, in the greatest research ever conducted on happiness, which lasted 75 years, has shown that this feeling is largely linked to our relationships with others: the more we manage to live a life full of satisfying relationships, the happier we will be. According to scientists who have analyzed the actions that characterize men happy with their existence, it seems that being generous with others, being grateful for the privileges you have, regularly having new experiences with the people we love and learning the art of forgiveness. , are good techniques to put into practice to be happy.
Psychology scholar Michael Fordyce has listed what he believes are the key principles that lead to happiness:
- Have a rich and active life
- Socializing with other people
- Engage in activities that make you feel good
- Cultivate loving relationships.
In analyzing a research conducted in Germany, however, scientists have shown that marriage alone is not enough: being married, in fact, is not in itself a guarantee of happiness, to be happy in life one must commit to building relationships d "true love. After many years of relationship, in fact, the feeling can diminish.
What is happiness according to philosophy
One of the philosophers who wrote the most about happiness is the Greek Epicurus, who made the pursuit of pleasure the center of his reflections. According to this philosopher, one is never too old to take care of the well-being of one's soul, and the sooner one begins the better; man, during his life, naturally tends to move away from pain, be it physical or psychic, to seek pleasure. It is precisely this absence of pain that is the cause of happiness in the world. Epicurus then divides the pleasures of life into three categories: the natural and necessary ones (friendship, love, food, care, ...), the natural but unnecessary ones (luxury, abundance, ...) and unnatural and unnecessary ones (power, glory, fame, ..).
According to this philosophy, man must concentrate on living a life connected to his interests and cultivate relationships of friendship and love, pursuing pleasure in order to live away from the sources of pain. For Socrates, however, the way to happiness passes through the "commitment and ethics": the more man follows his principles, the more he will feel well-being.
Eastern philosophy has also been concerned with how to be happy. Buddhism bases its search for well-being on a series of practices collected in the Noble Eightfold thought; these are the sermons given by Buddha with the aim of teaching men to be at peace with themselves. According to this philosophy, happiness does not depend on the material things that individuals possess, but on inner righteousness. Happiness can be earned, as long as you first engage in an intense spiritual journey.
In more modern times, the topic of happiness has received so much attention that at Yale University they have even set up an ad hoc degree course; a large group of students attend a series of lessons on how to make one's life more fulfilling, based on the principles of positive psychology. In Italy, the philosopher Salvatore Natoli has long been involved in the search for pleasure and how we can be happy. On the occasion of the philosophy festival in Modena, he gave an "interview to Rai Cultura in which he talks about his book "The education to happiness." According to Natoli, being interested in the external aspects of existence does not lead to well-being because to be happy they are not needed: it is better to concentrate on one's own subjectivity.
Tips to be happy
We all want to be happy in life, it is a physiological condition of the human being. To experience positive feelings, however, we must commit ourselves to improving our physical and spiritual condition. You can be happy even with little, and certainly gratitude is a feeling that can help us.
- Feel good about themselves. Wellness passes through the relationship with our soul and body.
- Doing what makes us feel good. Seeking the pleasure of doing activities that cause us positive feelings is the first step to be happy in life.
- Socialize. Sharing your emotions with others is important: the best years are those spent among people.
- Being rich is not synonymous with being happy. Why are some people never happy and others, even if they live in more disadvantaged conditions, yes? This excessive attention to material well-being typical of Western society does not lead to happiness. Certainly not having economic worries ensures well-being, however billionaires are not necessarily happier with their lives than normal people because the accumulation of things is not as important as relationships.
- Follow a psychology that has "improve your life" as its slogan. One of the assumptions of positive psychology is that you can live in a positive way if you commit yourself every day to change the situations that cause discomfort. If living in a certain place makes you feel bad (for example in places where there is little light from September-October-November onwards), then it is better to look for an accommodation where you are better. The climatic conditions play an important role in terms of happiness. Many people are well only in spring and summer, with a peak in the months of April, May, June and July, but if the lack of light and sun does not make them live at their best, you can evaluate the idea of move elsewhere.
- Helping others. Understanding how to be happy is a question that has tormented the minds of men for hundreds of years: sometimes, however, solidarity and volunteering work miracles. The world is not made up of single individuals all taken up by their own things: none of us are an island.
Reflections on the happiness of the great thinkers
Whenever you feel sad, before negative emotions take over, reading these phrases from the great intellectuals of the past will help you find your way back to happiness.
"A quiet and modest life gives more happiness than the pursuit of success, linked to constant restlessness". Albert Einstein
"The happiest man is the one with no trace of evil inside." Plato
"It is not true that happiness means a life without problems. A happy life comes from overcoming problems, from solving difficulties. You have to face challenges, do your best. Happiness is achieved when you realize you can control the challenges posed by fate, one feels lost if the comforts increase ". Z. Bauman
"Happiness is love, nothing else". Hermann Hesse
"Happiness is not having everything you want, but wanting what you have". Oscar Wilde
"True happiness comes from a sense of inner peace and fulfillment which in turn is achieved by cultivating selflessness, love, compassion, and by eliminating resentment, selfishness, and greed." Dalai Lama
"The happiest people are not necessarily those who have the best of everything, but those who make the most of what they have." Khalil Gibran
"Optimism is a magnet for happiness. If you stay positive, good things and good people will be attracted to you." Mary Lou Retton
