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Happier
and Healthier Living
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Psychology has made great progress in helping people overcome their
problems. But life is more then just overcoming problems. It is also
about joy, growth, creativity, love, and meaning. These are the things
that make life worth living. In recent years the field of Positive
Psychology has focused on how we can enhance lives and improve life
satisfaction. Explore this page and find out:
What
is Mental Health?
We often associate mental health to having
a problem. But what is mental health? Below is a short list of some of
the characteristics of mental health based on the work of Martin
Seligman Ph.D., author of Authentic Happiness, and Daniel Goleman
author of Emotional Intelligence. |
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- Being
able to have close, supportive relationships.
- Being
aware of our feelings and knowing how to handle them.
- Having
the ability to tolerate a certain amount of stress.
- Being
able to postpone immediate gratification of short term needs, in order
to stick with long range plans that are in our best interest.
- Having
the ability to successfully problem solve new situations.
- Having
the ability to be flexible, to bring different skills and strategies to
different situations.
- Having
the ability to tolerate and accept others who may be different then
ourselves.
- Being
able to accept others and ourselves when we are not perfect.
- Having
some sustaining personal or spiritual beliefs that help us deal with
the big questions in life.
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Why
do we need to learn how to be happy?
Feeling good is not only good in
itself, but also promotes doing better in many areas of life. Positive feelings promote "flourishing," according
Barbara Fredrickson Ph.D., a leading psychological researcher. Positive
feelings help us "broaden and build" our psychological resources.
Happier people:
- Are
better problem solvers
- They
are more creative and productive
- They
tend to have better health and they live longer
- They
have better social relations
If we are
more creative and better problem
solvers, then it is easy to see how we will then do better in our
lives.
Where do we find
happiness?
What does not make a
difference:
- Money:
Once people are living above the poverty line, there is no difference in
happiness between those with a lot of money and those without.
- Youth: The
young are no happier then their elders. In fact the research suggest
that people may get happier as they get older.
- Looks:
Being good looking is no guarantee of happiness.
- Material Objects:
People who have a lot of things are not happier.
- IQ: There
is no evidence that smarter people are happier then others.
Some
things that seem to make a difference:
- Marriage:
Married people are happier then the rest of the population
- Having friends:
Having close social relationships is associated to happiness
- Working:
People who work, on the average, are happier then those who don't
- Religion:
People who are part of an organized religion tend to be happier
How
can we be happier?
Martin
Seligman Ph.D, in his book Authentic Happiness suggests that there are
three paths to lasting happiness and life satisfaction:
- Pleasure:
Enjoying the moment, having gratitude for the good things in our past,
and having hope and optimism for the future.
- Engagement:
Finding activities in our lives that engage our strengths and
interests.
- Meaning:
Involvement in something beyond ourselves, having a connection with and
contributing to the world around us.
Positive
psychology pioneers, Martin Seligman, Chris Peterson, Sonja Lyubomirsky
and others, have developed a number of strategies that have been proven
to raise happiness and life satisfaction. Interventions that:
- Improve our ability to enjoy the present.
- That take the "sting" out of the past and help people appreciate what good there has been in their lives.
- Build optimism for the future
- Increase engagement and "flow"
- Increase meaning and connection with the world around us.
As a Certified
Authentic Happiness coach, I offer groups and workshops on how to live
a happier and more satisfying life. Contact me to find out more.
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