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The Pursuit of Happiness
By Ray Remington, Jr.
Are you happy? Could you be more happy?
That certainly is the main topic of many self-help books. In fact, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have identified more than one hundred different specific recommendations to achieve happiness. So there is plenty of advice available. Yet, strangely, there has been little substantial scientific research in this area.
Most social science researchers seem to avoid this topic. As one stated: “most people are happy most of the time. That is, in a group of people who have reasonable good health and income, most will probably rate a 7.5 or so on a happiness scale of zero to 10.”
Still, many people want to be happier. What can they do?
That is the task undertaken by the research team at the University of Pennsylvania. One idea for increasing happiness they are testing is to have subjects practice this exercise: every night, think of three good things that happened that day and analyze why they occurred. One participant, a constant worrier, stated: “ The quality of my dreams has changed, I never have trouble falling asleep and I do feel happier,” she said.
A second approach that has shown promise is a specialized questionnaire designed to help people identify personal strengths and then choose the five most prominent ones. Consequently, every day for a week, they are to apply one or more of their strengths in a new way.
Such strengths would include the ability to find humor or summon enthusiasm, appreciation of beauty, curiosity and love of learning. The idea of the exercise is that using one's major "signature" strengths may be a good way to get engaged in satisfying activities.
Another approach under study now is having people work on savoring the pleasing things in their lives --like a warm shower or a good breakfast. Yet another promising approach is having people write down what they want to be remembered for, to help them bring their daily activities in line with what's really important to them.
For example, in one experiment, participants were asked to regularly practice random acts of kindness, holding a door open for a stranger or doing a roommate's dishes, for 10 weeks. The idea was to improve a person's self-image and promote good interactions with other people.
Participants who performed a variety of acts, rather than repeating the same ones, showed an increase in happiness even a month after the experiment was concluded. Those who kept on doing the acts on their own did better than those who didn't.
Other approaches showing some preliminary promise include thinking about the happiest day in your life over and over again, without analyzing it, and writing about how you'll be 10 years from now, assuming everything goes just right.
Any long-term effect will probably depend on people continuing to work at it, just as folks who move to southern California can lose their appreciation of the ocean and weather unless they pursue activities that highlight those natural benefits.
In fact, happiness probably is really about work and striving.
"Happiness is the process, not the place," one investigator stated. "So many of us think that when we get everything just right, and obtain certain goals and circumstances, everything will be in place and we will be happy... But once we get everything in place, we still need new goals and activities. The Princess could not just stop when she got the Prince.”
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