On the building blocks of Happiness – bit by bit every day
From the ancient philosophers such as Seneca, Plato and Aristotle to the Founding Fathers who famously wrote of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, happiness has always existed as a core tenant of self-fulfilment.
When we compare these historical conceptualisations to the way we view the notion of happiness today, what we see is a transition from happiness as a practice, to happiness as a product. Modern society revolves around instant gratification and all too often we conflate this system of reward with the idea of happiness itself. When this occurs, we begin to view happiness as something that can be bought or attained in an item or single experience. What’s key to understand is that although happiness might be added to by a job promotion, relationship or a surprise gift, it is certainly not created there, and looking for happiness outside of oneself will inevitably lead to further dissatisfaction.
What if, instead of viewing happiness as a final destination, or something that can be realised overnight, we began to consider happiness as the byproduct of the process of working on happiness? In other words, rather than devoting our attention to attaining the ever-elusive feeling of happiness, we ought to apply the same level of concentration to solidifying the foundation upon which happiness thrives – the building blocks, if you will.
What we should really focus on is strengthening, bit by bit, the aspects of our lives that already generate happiness. Just as we know that being healthy is about more than eating a single salad, and that being strong is about more than a single push-up, true happiness exists in more than a single moment of joy. Much like anything worthwhile, happiness requires conscious effort. It requires the same mental concentration, and physical training as building muscle at the gym does, and there is no one-size fits all model.
Happiness, therefore becomes the thread that we weave into the good, the bad and the in-between moments of our lives; it is a state of overall well-being measured by no less than an entire lifetime. In fact, it’s impossible to be decidedly happy all of the time, but by viewing the difficulties in life as stepping stones to greater, future personal strength we are acknowledging the idea that happiness can and will return.
With this in mind, here are some areas we can all improve our mindfulness and strengthen our building blocks of happiness.
On the building blocks of Happiness – bit by bit every day
1. Diet
Research studies have shown that eating a carbohydrate-rich diet with high intake of fruits and vegetables not only supports health, but also significantly increases daily levels of reported happiness. By centring our eating habits around our ambitions for health and happiness, we are bound to be successful in both mind and body.
2. Exercise
By incorporating exercise into our daily routine, we give our bodies a chance to self-regulate and channel our negative emotions into positive ones. Exercise inevitably results in higher levels of feelings such as accomplishment, relaxation and increased energy. In fact, individuals who exercise regularly, also report higher levels of happiness day to day and are also less likely to smoke, more likely to eat healthy, and more likely to exercise again, thus creating a positive feedback loop. The only way is up!
3. Purpose
Research has shown that one of the biggest ways to create and maintain happiness is to engage in meaningful work that provides one with purpose. No matter what it is, the act of having small goals, and fulfilling them, is key in providing a solid foundation for happiness. Even better, is that our personal happiness can also have a positive effect on others around us (up to three degrees of separation according to a study by the British Medical Journal), and vice versa.