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Happiness is both an elusive secret that many have trouble grasping and holding on to, while also an all-encompassing resource that is easily achievable. All it takes is the knowledge and know-how to tap into it’s supposed secret powers, and infinite source of wisdom, prosperity, and peace.

For hundreds, maybe even thousands of years, people have studied such things as depression and psychological illness. The goal of psychologists is primarily to rid a patient of their problems. Recently, however, modern science has begun to look at how happiness works. What are the building blocks of life? One that is not only free from illness but that flourishes with a deep and genuine happiness?

According to Ed Diener, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois;

“When I got into ‘happiness research’ it was 1981. It was not a popular field in psychology. People thought it was flaky, they thought it was loose. A professor said to me ‘You can never measure happiness.’ Now, why they thought you could measure depression, which they were all doing, but you couldn’t measure happiness, I’m not sure. And then in the 90’s people started getting interested in it, and now it’s absolutely amazing how many people are interested.”

Several books and magazine articles have been increasing in popularity, on the study of happiness and how it works. There is even a new science dedicated to this field of study known as ‘Positive Psychology’, and a popular college class at Harvard University on happiness and how it can be measured and utilized by society today.

A lot of what contributes to happiness is the production of dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical in the brain called a neurotransmitter. This chemical is necessary for feelings of pleasure and happiness. To unlock the gift of everlasting happiness, the ultimate secret is to seek out experiences that release dopamine.

“Pretty much, as you age from about teenage years onward, you’re slowly losing dopamine synapses. And probably dopamine neurons as well. As far as we know, no one’s observed those regenerating. If it’s too severe, then you end up with Parkinson’s disease. The body adapts to what it needs to do. So the ‘use it or lose it’ probably applies to some degree in the brain, as well (much like muscles, as the brain is similar to a muscle). And so the idea would be to seek out experiences that release dopamine, or that you need dopamine to do. The things that are best at doing that, interestingly, involve physical activity. So aerobic exercise is probably one of the releases of dopamine, especially if you do it in novel ways.” – Gregory Berns, M.D., Ph. D., Professor of Psychiatry at the Emory University

Another component that can increase happiness, which also relates to the release of dopamine, is something any athlete or passionate worker would refer to as ‘being in the zone’. According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Ph.D. and Professor of Psychology at Claremont Graduate University;

“I started studying people who were doing something very difficult and demanding for no good reason – no money, no status, nothing. But just because they like to do it. My understanding of what motivated these activities was not anything that came from outside, but it came from the activity itself. I gave this kind of synergy, of different aspects of consciousness, the name ‘flow’. The feeling where you wish you could go on forever because it feels like you are completely fulfilling something, that you can do well and that you can see it happening, and that nothing else matters.

To have very clear goals, that you know moment by moment what you have to do. Like if you’re singing or playing a musical instrument, you always know what notes or chords you want to play next, and you can hear whether you’re doing it right or not. People in that situation feel in control, they forget their problems, and interestingly they forget themselves. The kind of ego that you are always aware of in everyday life, disappears. It builds over time, a feeling that life is worth living.”

This ‘flow’ can happen almost anywhere; during personal time, work hours, or with friends and family. Yet when asked, a large majority of individuals claim their happiness would depend on their financial status, and material wealth. However, all things considered, is it possible to ‘buy’ happiness? We’re told in our society – the way to be a good, competent person is to make a lot of money.

However, in the last 50 years, economic growth has gone up a lot. In America, we are about twice as wealthy as we were only 50 years ago. Yet levels of happiness have remained stagnant, and people aren’t any happier than they were 50 years ago, even though they’re living in bigger houses and have more cars. This is what is referred to as the ‘hedonic treadmill’. This notion says that whatever level of wealth or material goods you have, you adapt to it and you’ll always want more.

“Anybody who says ‘money doesn’t buy happiness’, should go talk to somebody living under a bridge. But anybody who says, ‘money buys happiness’, should go talk to Bill Gates. Neither of those things is actually true. When money buys you out of the burdens of homelessness, of not knowing where your next meal will come from, it changes your happiness dramatically. But once you have basic needs met, more money doesn’t seem to buy more happiness. The difference between the person who earns $5,000 and $50,000 is dramatic. The difference between the person who earns $50,000 and $50 million is not dramatic.” – Daniel Gilbert, Ph. D., Author of Stumbling on Happiness

Another main avenue of pursuing happiness, being in the flow, and increasing the release of dopamine, is to surround oneself with family and friends. In several studies in which some of the happiest people were analyzed, without exception, each one of them had close, supportive family members and friends. This doesn’t mean they loved and/or got along with everybody perfectly, but rather that every one of them took an active, participating role in building upon their social lives and relationships to those closest to them.

“We make a distinction between two main kinds of goals or values in which people might pursue in life – intrinsic goals and extrinsic goals. So, extrinsic goals are extrinsic in the sense that they’re focused on something external to you. They’re focused on rewards, praise, and on getting stuff. The three main examples of extrinsic goals we’ve looked at in our research are for money, financial success; for our image, looking good, having the right appearance; and for status or popularity.

Now, we contrast those with intrinsic goals. Intrinsic goals are inherently satisfying in and of themselves because they have to do with intrinsic psychological needs that all people have. The three intrinsic goals which we have studied are goals for personal growth, trying to be who I really am; having close, connected relationships with friends and loved ones; and community feeling, which is having a sense of wanting to help the world to be a better place.

We found that intrinsic goals are on the exact opposite side of value systems compared to extrinsic goals. They’re in opposition to each other. Another thing we know from a decade of research at this point is that people who were more oriented towards money, status, and image, were reporting less satisfaction with their lives. They were more depressed, more anxious. We found that they felt less vital, and less energized in their day-to-day life. On the other hand, intrinsically oriented people were happier. They were reporting more vitality, less depression, less anxiety.” – Tim Kasser, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at Knox College

An excellent way of going from ‘what don’t I have’, – to – ‘what do I have that I can share’, is an excellent way of transitioning from an extrinsic level of focus to an intrinsic level of happiness. We all need something bigger than ourselves to care about. In essence, happiness can be derived in a simple three step plan;

Find something or someone to love (the more the merrier) Find something passionate for yourself to do (get ‘in the zone’ or ‘in the flow’) Find something you both love and are passionate about, to look forward too

Another great method to purposely set the intention of becoming happier is to practice meditation. It is possible to change DNA with positive thought intention, and placebo effect thinking. This is due to there being evidence that indicates; we can actually change the growth structure of the brain. Literally, the size of particular cortical areas in the brain change in their thickness. Thus we, through intention, can change our brain.

Practice gratitude, empathy, compassion, and love – as these emotions will provide happiness that is much bigger than yourself. If you only seek your own happiness, it may not lead to the outcome you desire, and thus negativity may arise through feelings of fear, inadequacy, or doubt. Caring about something much bigger than yourself, such as the wellbeing of the World or the ones you love, will provide a sense of happiness that is mirrored back and reflected upon your person.

If each of us spent even a smidgen of time each day actually practicing to cultivate happiness and other virtuous qualities, such as compassion and altruism, the World would really be a better place. Also, we would all be transforming our brains in very positive ways. Be authentically you. Embrace the past, present, and future versions of you. The formula for happiness is different for everyone, but by appreciating what we have, surrounding ourselves with people we love and things we are passionate about, as well as doing what makes us happy – we will inevitably create more of the same.

If still feeling stuck and unable to achieve happiness – try to remember these 10 helpful things to get back on track, and take back your power. ♥

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