Happiness

Did you have a chance to read the recent study confirming that happy people tend to perceive risks more that the average person might feel? Indeed, happy folks appear to be more open to new experiences, and are more optimistic about this (optimism being  associated with living a longer, healthier life).
All of which dovetails with findings from my newest books, “Pushing The Boundaries! How To Get More Out Of Life” (pushingtheboundaries.life) and “Being Happy Matters” (beinghappymatters.life).
 
What I’ve learned is that happiness can be part of well-being. When you’re happy, this  adds a sense of satisfaction and control over your life, all of which increases your ability to enjoy relationships. In fact, the study suggests there are certain actions you can take to cultivate this feeling:
 
-Practice gratitude
-Recall positive memories
-Reach out to loved ones
-Seek out novel experiences
 
I’ve written previously in this blog about that first one: Practice gratitude. It’s a lesson I learned from a friend who encouraged me to start each day by offering an appreciation for something positive in my life. I do. It works.
 
The second seems like a no-brainer: recalling positive times just has to kindle happiness.
 
Reaching out to loved ones is something we don’t do enough. Or I don’t, anyway.
 
Seek out novel experiences. Now, that’s not an activity that leapt to mind when I considered ways of sustaining happiness. And yet, as I look back at my life and career, I realize I’ve done just that, many times. And it upped the excitement meter, which added to happiness in my life. So I do see the purpose.
 
We live in very demanding times. Seeking ways to latch onto happiness seems to me to be so very timely. It’s something I intend to keep doing. And I hope you do too.

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