Have you ever wondered why some people just appear to always be happy? I thought I’d do a little research and see why this is. For the most part, we know that attitude plays a huge role in how happy and contended we are. And of course attitude is a choice. We can choose to have an attitude of gratitude or we can choose to have an attitude of resentment. Not sure if resentment is the opposite of gratitude but it certainly feels like that to me.
Resentment comes about because of the negative attitude that we have towards decisions that we have made that didn’t work out in our favour. We can also have feelings of resentment towards people who always appear to be happy. That’s quite an admission to make! Feeling resentment towards someone else because they have got something right in their lives whilst you’re still struggling through yours. I think, don’t be too hard on yourself, your feeling is natural and normal. Just don’t allow it to become so ingrained into who you are that you cannot get yourself past those feelings of resentment.
In fact, you can use those resentful feelings as motivation to spur yourself on and create a better life for yourself where you no longer feel those negative feelings, but rather master the art of creating a happy life for yourself. Follow their examples. Now I hear you ask how do you follow their examples if you don’t know what they are. So for ease of reference and to give you something to work with, here are five things that happy people do every day :
- Happy people think about the past fondly
Perhaps unique among all animals, humans have the capacity to travel backward and forward in time – to use the “seemingly correct present” both to relive past life events and to think about the future. Our data shows that happy people appear to relive the ecstasy, but ignoring the agony, of days gone by. When happy people think about their past they focus on their good memories instead of dwelling on the negatives. - Happy people “catch” the emotions of others
Some sensitive people are vulnerable to experiencing others’ emotions – they can “catch” them during joyful (and sorrowful) experiences. Our data shows that when someone smiles warmly at happy people, they smile back and feel warm inside. Therefore, if you pay more attention to the positive emotions of other people, you should be happier. - Happy people live in a great community
A person is happiest when three basic psychological needs are satisfied: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Literally thousands of studies demonstrate the positive effect of psychological need satisfaction on happiness. Our data shows that these psychological needs can be met by one’s community. Happy people say that they feel belongingness where they live and that they look forward to coming home when they have been away. - Happy people manage their money well
Something that any of us can do every day is to make a budget and track our financial transactions so we don’t make impulsive purchases. Research suggests that individuals will manage their money better when they have a clear goal – for example, paying off a credit card, saving for a comfortable retirement, or starting an emergency fund. Our data shows that if you manage your money better today, you will be happier tomorrow. - Happy people spend their money on life experiences instead of material items
Almost 10 years of research has investigated the effects of investing money in life experiences, as opposed to material items. There is now robust evidence that when people spend their money on life experiences they are happier than when they spend on material goods. However, our data further shows that people who habitually spend their money on life experiences are happier than people who tend to buy material items.
Money, personality, and well-being
by Ryan T. Howell, Ph.D.
I certainly hope that you take these findings to heart. That you try to put them into practise in your daily life. None of it is unachievable, not matter who you are or where you are in your life. It’s like everything else in life, making a conscious choice to do something, will get you going, keep you going and return the results you want.
#happypeople #research #attitude #gratitude #resent #resentfulness
Author: Spirit Connection
Spirit Connection is an online platform to facilitate connecting light workers with people seeking their help.
