When your mood is gloomy, and your thinking preoccupied, life as a whole seems depressing. When you let your mood brighten your thinking broadens, becoming more playful and creative (Fredrickson, 2003). Happy Helpers When we feel happy, we’re more ready to help other people. In study after study, a mood-boostingContinue Reading
There seems to be no question that everyone wants happiness. But how does one define happiness? And should the pursuit of happiness be our only goal? Maturity comes from using our minds to navigate our emotions and behaviors so that we can consider what actions we can take to makeContinue Reading
Happiness doesn’t depend on some outside situation. It is a decision that you make. You can experience happiness just by talking about it. If birds sitting on a tree branch singing make you happy then go outside and listen to them sing. If freshly baked bread makes you happy thenContinue Reading
Here is a quick self-assessment to find out your overall state of happiness. Not just today or this week, but for an outlook on your life and future. A score below 20 means you have a lack of happiness with lots of room for improvement.A score of 20-35 indicates youContinue Reading
Ecstasy is a state of extreme and rapturous emotional excitement. The study of “positive psychology” concentrates on finding ways to achieve a good and happy life rather than merely alleviating the misery of depression and anxiety. Central to this concept is the achievement of “flow.” When we engage in anContinue Reading
Most psychology is focused largely on alleviating unhappy conditions rather than creating and promoting happiness. According to Martin Seligman, one of the founders of Positive Psychology, there are three kinds of happy life: The “good” life, a life that pursues personal growth, successfully engaged in relationships, work, play and achievingContinue Reading
Helping behaviors are prosocial behaviors that are intended to help or comfort a person and to gain insight into a personal problem. It is valuable to keep the following comparison in mind. This report is not a diagnosis. We hope this information can guide you toward improving your life. ReviewContinue Reading
In routine problem solving or thinking, there is only one correct answer. The problem is to find it. This leads to convergent thinking – lines of thought that converge on the answer. To be creative, the solution to the problem must be more than novel, unusual, or original. It mustContinue Reading
Fifty percent of happiness is determined by our genes and totally out of our control, according to Sonya Lyubomirsky, a psychologist a the University of California, Riverside. Ten percent is determined by circumstances, somewhat out of our control, and the final forty percent is determined by our thoughts, actions andContinue Reading
Emotional problems, stress, depression and relationship issues all interfere with our thinking. In order to temporarily escape from these difficulties, people engage in what amount to negative pleasures. Normal, healthy pleasures can also be negative if they become compulsive or habitual. Any pleasure that is taken to extreme is negative.Continue Reading