happiness is a choice

happiness lillibridge dakota 1966

After a wonderfully dense four hour conversation this morning with two very smart thoughtful friends over coffee, pastry and strawberries I learned of the book: The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky. I wanted to give you a quick visual for the basis of the book. I personally need to use this pie chart as a quick visual reminder for my own happiness and choices.

“But what precisely can we do to hasten or bolster such increases in happiness? The answer lies in the pie chart theory of happiness. Recall that 50 percent of individual differences in happiness are governed by genes, 10 percent by life circumstances, and the remaining 40 percent by what we do and how we think-that is, our intentional activities and strategies.” Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside

OUR HAPPINESS IS WITHIN OUR POWER TO CHANGE not an entirely predetermined way of life. Let that marinade in your brain a while OR put that in your pipe and smoke it. Whatever resonates more for you. It might sound ridiculous, but some little changes could net big gains in your happiness level. Maybe worth a shot, huh?

Here’s the link to the book:

Homepage

Status doesn’t get us much in terms of happiness.

“Consider any individual at any period of his life, and you will always find him preoccupied with fresh plans to increase his comfort.” —Alexis de Tocqueville

Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville (French: 29 July 1805 – 16 April 1859) was a French political thinker and historian. He analyzed the rising living standards and social conditions of individuals and their relationship to the market and state in Western societies.

I caught the tail end of the Ted Radio Hour show Saturday afternoon with Alain de Botton’s new book and documentary. He talks and writes about our rising levels of comfort and our dwindling levels of satisfaction and happiness. It is all about COMPARISON. We live in a time of constant comparison and the irony that I am sharing this post on FACEBOOK isn’t lost on me. See if his work resonate for you. I thought there was some very provocative material in his research.

Status Anxiety Documentary by Alain de Botton:
http://www.documentarywire.com/status-anxiety

Ted Radio Hour/NPR:
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=240782763&m=240817961