Not everyone can put on a happy face. Looking on the bright side isn’t possible for some people and is even counterproductive. Expecting others to deal in a way that doesn’t fit, just makes them feel like a failure on top of already feeling bad. The one size fits all approach to managing emotional life [Read More...]
posted on 11-28-11 at 7:20 am in Happiness 101
Happiness demands that we confront negative feelings head-on, without letting them overwhelm. Real life is full of disappointments, loss and inconveniences. To live a rich and meaningful life, we must allow ourselves a full range of emotions. Otherwise life is just a struggle against reality. Negative states are as important as positive, they help cue us into what [Read More...]
tags: awareness, suffering 
Post a Comment {0}
posted on 10-24-11 at 7:11 am in Happiness 101
Time skews our perceptions of happiness. Take the the way parents look back warmly on their children’s preschool years as an example. A Princeton study found that childcare ranked very low on the list of what makes people happy, below napping and watching TV. And, yet, if you were to step back and evaluate a decade of your [Read More...]
tags: awareness, integrity Post a Comment {0}
posted on 09-26-11 at 7:08 am in Happiness 101
You can increase positive feelings by incorporating a few proven practices into your routine. Try expressing your gratitude toward someone in a letter or in a weekly journal, visualize the best possible future for yourself once a week, and perform acts of kindness for others on a regular basis to lift your mood in the [Read More...]
tags: gratitude Post a Comment {0}
posted on 08-29-11 at 7:02 am in Happiness 101
The best piece of advice to come out of the field of positive psychology is to make strong personal relationships your priority. Good relationships are buffers against the damaging effects of all of life’s inevitable letdowns and setbacks.
tags: Relationships Post a Comment {0}
posted on 08-15-11 at 7:00 am in Happiness 101
Mindfulness, a mental state of relaxed awareness of the present moment, marked by openness and curiosity toward your feelings rather than judgments of them, is a powerful tool for experiencing happiness when practiced regularly. (See blog “Ten Deep Breaths”) If you can bring mindfulness to bear on negative feelings, they lose their impact. Just let them [Read More...]
tags: breathing, Mindfulness Post a Comment {0}
posted on 06-27-11 at 7:56 am in Happiness 101
So just what exactly is “happiness”? The most useful definition – and it’s one agreed upon by neuroscientists, psychiatrist, behavioral economists, positive psychologists, and Buddhist monks – is more like satisfied or content than “happy” in its strict bursting-with-glee sense. It has depth and deliberation to it. It encompasses living a meaningful life, utilizing your [Read More...]
tags: happiness Post a Comment {0}
posted on 05-30-11 at 7:30 am in Happiness 101
Have you noticed the happiness craze? Last year alone 4,000 books were published on happiness, thanks in large part to the positive psychology movement. There are those who see in the happiness brigade a glib Pollyanna gloss. So it’s not surprising that the happiness movement has unleashed a counterforce. Both the happiness and anti-happiness forces actually agree on something [Read More...]
tags: happiness Post a Comment {0}