Don't Worry! Be Happy!

By Gloria Urch

Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence. —Aristotle

Throughout the ages, much has been written about the idea of happiness. Poets, philosophers, theologians, and clinicians have attempted to describe, explain, predict, promise, create, and even measure happiness. The United States’ Declaration of Independence places the pursuit of happiness right up there with life and liberty itself as one of the top three inalienable rights.

A recent study by Fujita and Diener (published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology) shows that most individuals maintain stable levels of happiness over time. The study, which measured the happiness levels of a German population for a 17-year period, showed that 75% of the individuals studied maintained stable levels of happiness that quickly returned to baseline levels even after they had experienced traumatic events in their lives.

While twin studies reinforce the idea that happiness may be genetic in nature, others firmly believe that happiness is a choice we make. Abraham Lincoln said, “Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

Clinicians do not agree on what makes some people happy or what causes unhappiness in others. Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, believed that early childhood experiences had the most profound impact on an individual’s level of happiness.

Abraham Maslow, who studied thousands of self-actualized individuals, believed that happiness among “normal” people was rare. In Maslow’s theoretical model, the tip of the pyramid included a select few individuals who were able to pursue and attain true happiness only after they had satisfied all of the lower, basic human needs.

According to some religious beliefs, such as Jainism, happiness is a natural state of the soul. While Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of TM, agrees, he further asserts that the majority of individuals lack the insight to grasp the happiness that they desire. He writes the following about happiness:

[Individuals are] born of bliss, of consciousness, of creativity, of wisdom…It is only necessary to begin to enjoy. But not finding it anywhere, obviously missing it in day-to-day life, the majority begin to suffer. It is just a little ignorance which makes [one] suffer, ignorance of [one’s] own potentiality.

Defining happiness is also a daunting task. One author defined happiness, not by what it is, but rather by what it is not. According to this writer, if you are feeling any of the following emotions, then you are not happy: self doubt, depression, hate, fear, worry, dissatisfaction, boredom, grief, shame, discontent, guilt, anxiety, annoyance, irritation, anger, stress, frustration, sadness, envy or jealousy.

Knowing this, some therapies seek to create happiness by eliminating the un-happy components in one’s life. It is difficult to assess how successful such therapies are. It is well documented, however, that happy people have several commonalities. Married individuals are happier than single individuals. Religious individuals are happier than non-believers. Individuals who possess a sense of purpose and expect to live a long life are also happier beings.

Although the study by Fujita and Diener proposes that happiness, like one’s body weight, strives to maintain a set-point, we do know that it is possible to change our set-point by changing other variables. For body weight, this may include consistent and long-term changes in dietary habits or physical activity. To change our life satisfaction set-point, each of us must identify which areas of our life require change and how willing we are to make those changes.

Maybe Ole’ Abe was right, after all. Perhaps most of us are as happy as we make up our minds to be. Perhaps, happiness really is just a state of mind. If this is true, then we need only to change the way we think in order to achieve the happiness we desire.

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