8 Facts About Happiness You Should Know

Happiness is the key motivation behind human being’s every plan and action in life. However, most of the people often feel unhappy because they do not know the secret of happiness. Even if they seem to achieve happiness, that is  temporary and they get back to their usual state of non-happy mind sooner than they know. The mystery of being happy seems complex and most of people spend lot of time in search of happiness. Do you know – How to be happy? Let’s figure out by understanding a few basic facts about happiness. These are inevitable and liberating truths which I have learned learned during the course of life.

Facts about Happiness

These impressive facts about happiness might surprise you.

Happiness is inside you

Happiness is within you, right there inside you. You are the source of your own happiness. Most of the people search for happiness in outside world, but the happiness comes from within. People try to find the happiness in materialistic experiences from the objects and other people surrounding them, whereas, ironic as it may sound, you are the seed of your joy. If you are unhappy, you are the reason for that and no one else.

The seed of happiness lies within you. You are the farmer who has to sow it and you are the one who will reap the benefits of it too!

Happiness is contagious

Happiness is contagious and grows when shared. It spreads through social networks, sort of like a virus, meaning that your happiness could influence the happiness of someone you’ve never even met. Happiness creates happiness. If you can succeed in spreading happiness to one other person, I can guarantee you that it will have a ripple effect, making more people happier too – the people you will have never met before. This cycle of Karma will come back to you. You will get back what you give.

Try to spread happiness with your actions – leave a surprise note, give a genuine compliment, greet strangers or make someone laugh. You may also express your gratitude, donate what you can or be kind to someone. All these activities not only spread happiness but also give you sense of satisfaction and fulfillment, which contributes to your overall state of happiness.

Find more happiness articles

• How to be Happy?
• Inspirational Stories about life – Happiness is within You
• Happiness Quotes
• Happiness is a journey not a destination

Happiness is a choice

We make around 35,000 remotely conscious decisions every single day. From choosing smaller things like what to eat and which clothes to wear, to bigger things like who to love, how to spend quality time, whether to move city or quit the job you feel stuck in.

Some of your choices turn out to be great and others do not. What they have in common though is that all of these choices are based on your deep desire to be happy.

Make choices which makes you happy in larger context instead of luring for instant gratification. Train your brain to choose happiness, even when your circumstances suggested the opposite. Often it’s a tough choice. You may have to forgive when you want revenge, to be nice when you want to be angry, to give when you want to receive, and to get out of bed when all you want to do is lie in it all day watching the last season of Game of Thrones.

Money can’t buy happiness

This is an old debate whether money can buy happiness or not. If you ask me personally money can’t buy happiness. Being rich isn’t necessarily the path to happiness. Happiness is not a result of achievements or purchases. Do you remember how happy were you, when you bought your first car, but now if you buy the same car, if wont make you happy as it did earlier.

If you look at the first instinct money seems to be important to happiness. Ask someone who doesn’t have it. Having a higher income can give you access to luxurious life, homes in safer neighborhoods, better health care and nutrition, fulfilling work, and more leisure time.

However, this only works up to a certain point. Once your income reaches a certain level and your basic needs for food, health care, safety, and shelter are met, the positive effects of money — such as buying your dream home — are often offset by the negative effects — such as working longer hours, or in more stressful jobs, to maintain that income. Even the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs proves it scientifically that at the stage of self actualization money and materialistic things can not motivate or satisfy you. You find that inside you.

Money makes you happy but only up to $75,000, according to research by Princeton Professors Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton. Beyond that amount, it all depends on how you define happiness.

Happiness gets better with age

The older you get, the happier you become. Happiness gets better with age. Several seminal studies have argued that age is related in a U-curve pattern to happiness: happiness declines from youth to middle age and then bounces back in old age.

Older people tend to remember the good times more than the sadder ones. Seniors also seek out situations that lift their mood.

Happiness is a journey not a destination

When I was a kid, I used to think I will be happy; when I will pass out from school. At that age, college life seemed to be a symbol of freedom and happiness. When I reached that milestone and was doing graduation from college; I started feeling that once I will have good Job, I will have lot money and that will bring happy days to me. This chain kept continued; after getting a lucrative job, I convinced  myself that life will be better after I will get married, have a baby, then another. The problem with me was I looking towards happiness as a milestone, which kept changing it’s position with time. I was running towards a virtual destination. After a long time; I understood that – “Happiness is a journey not a destination”

Happiness is state of mind

Happiness is a state of mind. Your happiness is mostly dependent on quality of your thought and beliefs. You have to feed your brain regularly with positive thoughts.  But, it is often covered by several layers of negative emotions you take from the surrounding situations.

You become happy when your mind is calm, relaxed and free of negative thoughts. Nobody else can make you happy if you do not want to, your happiness is largely dependent on your state of mind more than anything else.

Accepting duality gives you happiness

How do you experience happiness if you don’t know sadness and pain? You need to understand the duality of life and accept it. When you embrace the duality of life and allow each situation to arise as it is, you can navigate life’s path with greater ease and peace.

If you want to understand the duality or paradoxical unity, it’s very easy to intellectually understand it. If you observe, there are always two opposite extremes, but they are complementary. These opposites don’t revoke each other; instead simply balance each other like the dual wings of a butterfly. This can be easy to understand that you can’t see these black letters without the white background. There is no meaning of black without white colour.

You cannot have a wave without a crest and a trough. Likewise, there will always be ups and downs in your life. You don’t need to be in happy every moment of every day. Not only is that impossible, but it’s also unhealthy. Life is complex and uncertain. The day you land that promotion you’ve been longing for might also be the day you suffer your first heartbreak. Be ready to accept such duality and you will find happiness.

Find more happiness articles

• How to be Happy?
• Facts about happiness
• Inspirational Story – Happiness is within You
• Happiness is a journey not a destination

Thank you for reading this. Over to you now, please let us know your experiences about happiness? Share your facts about happiness in the comment section, they are much appreciated.

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