Happinness

I was on youtube the other day, and I found a “TED talk: Shawn Achor: The Happy Secret to Better Work,” about the way the human mind becomes happy and the way it is achieved, compared to the way we try to achieve it. We live in a society where it is implied that, to be happy we must be successful in some way. Good things must happen to you for you to be happy. That the external world is the basis of our happiness, but this not how our mind works. The age old question of the glass being half full or half empty is great analogy, because it takes in to account different brain states. These different states, the way you interact with the world and the way things affect you, are based on what state you’re in. If you’re happy and inspired, a bad grade on a paper will be a aggravating but inspiring moment of self reenforcement where we learn from our mistakes and move forward. If we are in a angry or even neutral state this same fact will send us into a lower brain state, perhaps blaming the teacher, or more often and more logically ourselves. The depression of failure sets in and we enter another brain state of a downward spiral where we beat ourselves up for failing. Yet we should be over joyed because we have learned something wrong about ourselves, and can improve it. This is why our model for happiness is broken. In this respect, it is our thinking, our current brain state, not the external world that is driving our happiness. We need to change our model of what we think we need to be happy. If being successful causes happiness then we must achieve success, to achieve success we are told we must work hard. You would have to come to the conclusion hardworking, successful people would be perpetually happy, and while some are, the premise is not necessarily true. In fact, a child in a impoverished nation is likely to be more happy than a successful businessmen, because they are far more grateful of the things they do have and, as a child, naturally have a sense of wonder about the world. How do we reprogram our minds to be happy and to achieve happiness in a more practical way. Shawn Achor had a system I am testing now. I think it would be wonderful if anyone reading this tried something similar. The first step is to write down three new things you are grateful for everyday for twenty-one days. Through this time, you also journal a positive experience every day so you may re-live it. Do some form of exercise, for me--working at Lowe’s, taking stairs instead of elevator. Take a small amount of time to meditate even if it is during your driving where you turn off the radio and have a moment of self-reflection. Reach out to someone in your network of family, friends, co-workers and thank them honestly for the help they give. Finally, random acts of kindness. This is what ever you define it to be. Do all of this for twenty-one days and your brain will pick up on these patterns. That’s the beauty of thinking, based on these ideologies our minds tell us the state of things. If your brain tells you it’s true, it is to you. This can be your brain state, a belief in morals, a god, a mathematical equation, voices in your head, all of these things require first your brian interpret the world around you, so let’s try to change the way we interpret the world.