“Happy holidays” is resonating across the globe as people turn to a season of planned celebration and excess. The question is, do these situations truly and consistently lead to happiness? Without being a spoiler, check out on what type of happiness stays with you and what is temporal so you reach 2025 glowing with confidence.
Finding the measures of happiness has engaged scientists for decades, and philosophers for centuries. Martin Seligman, the proponent of ‘positive psychology’, maintains that scientific studies reveal a significant measure of your happiness quotient depends on inherited genes, as much as 30 – 40%. So you may be predisposed to be gloomy or sunny, come what may. However, you can make things better, as the remaining 60 – 70% is up to you.
Can happiness be long-lasting? Harvard Medical School says “positive psychology disavows the fleeting pleasures of materialism and ‘winning,’ to focus on the act of cultivating satisfaction and contentment. It encourages tapping into your inner strengths, and connecting with others to lead to a heightened sense of gratitude, and the happiness that comes with it.”
Interestingly, this comes very close to philosophical aphorisms most South Asians have heard from elders all of their growing years: Life wisdom, now scientific and proven!
These practitioners urge people to follow simple happiness practices to recover from stress and other psychological issues, all so do-able. The Pursuit of Happiness extrapolates on the approach very admirably:
- Build close relationships in which you can share your personal feelings and reveal your authentic self,
- Volunteer or care for others on a consistent basis,
- Engage in a healthy, active lifestyle that promotes physical vitality,
- Find spiritual engagement and meaning through meditation, prayer, organized religion, professional calling, or spiritual exploration,
- Practice mindfulness and positive thinking like optimism and gratitude in your daily life,
- Find an activity or hobby that you can become deeply involved in on a regular basis, and
- Identify your unique strengths and use them for a purpose that is greater than yourself.
Kindness, compassion, gratitude, mindfulness are qualities that come up again and again. They are all wonderful prompts that can make any time a season of everlasting happiness.
Do dwell on it. And Happy Holidays!
Interesting reads:
6 Happiness Tests & Scales to Measure Happiness
What is happiness?
Positive Psychology
The neuroscience of happiness
Three types of happiness
