Click here for happiness!

[Geoff-Allen]

Sustain positive emotions -

Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, and Schkade (2005a) have developed a ‘‘sustainable happiness’’ model characterizing the dynamics of the process of increasing and sustaining well-being (see also Sheldon & Lyubomirsky, 2004, in press). Relevant to the present study, they describe a number of critical factors that play a role in the enhancement and maintenance of positive emotion. First, they propose that, to sustainably increase well-being, appropriate strategies and practices must be performed with effort and habitual commitment (e.g., Seligman et al., 2005). This notion is consistent with findings that the pursuit of personal goals boosts well-being only if the goals are actually achieved (Brunstein, 1993; Sheldon & Kasser, 1998). Obviously, if an individual desires to feel happier and more joyful but does not exert dedicated effort to regularly perform a relevant mood-enhancing strategy, he will see few or no results. In the current experiment, we asked participants to keep performing one of several affectboosting exercises, and then measured how conscientiously they did it.

For more -

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/images/application_uploads/sheldon-SustainPositiveEmotion.pdf

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Adventures in Positive Psychology -

All day long we are confronted with situations where we must manage our emotions. We might run into some unexpected setback and need to manage stress, we may need to spark our motivation by dealing with a negative attitude, or we may need to manage anger when someone cuts us off in traffic.

Much of psychology and counseling focuses on how to regulate these negative emotions, such as anxiety, depression, anger and stress.

How to Maintain and Enhance Positive Emotions

Cheers!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Gina Lake is well-worth checking out. She has a site and some YouTube videos here -

Gina Lake - YouTube

Enjoy your day!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

The importance of resilience at the very well mind site -

Dealing with change or loss is an inevitable part of life. At some point, everyone experiences varying degrees of setbacks. Some of these challenges might be relatively minor (not getting into a class you wanted to take), while others are disastrous on a much larger scale (hurricanes, tornadoes, terrorist attacks). How we deal with these problems can play a significant role in not only the outcome but also the long-term psychological consequences.

What Is Resilience?

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to remain calm in the face of disaster while others appear to come undone? People that can keep their cool have what psychologists call resilience, or an ability to cope with problems and setbacks.

How Resilience Helps With the Coping of Crisis

All the best!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Ommadawn is an album from the 70's but it still stands up today. Here is a live version I enjoy listening to when I am typing away at the computer ...

Or search for Mike at youtube -

Mike Oldfield - YouTube

Enjoy!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Strategies for increasing your happiness (creativity boost) -

Think of a specific time, recently or a while back, when you were at your best — really feeling and behaving at a high level. You felt like you were your authentic self, being who you are. Share the "story" of this experience with someone important in your life.

Comes from here -

Top 10 Highly Popular Strategies for Boosting Happiness

Enjoy!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Keeping a sense of wonder can be very beneficial to your emotional health -

Check-out these videos - one is 10 hours - I wonder how large that video is in megabytes! -

Earth from space - YouTube

Here's a shorter one -

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Sadhguru happiness (YouTube) -

The source of joy is within you; you can take charge of it. When you are fundamentally joyous, when you do not have to do anything to be happy, then every dimension of your life – the way you perceive and express yourself and the world – will change. You will no longer have vested interests because whether you do something or you do not do something, whether you get something or do not get something, whether something happens or does not happen, you will be joyous by your nature. When you are joyous by your nature, your actions will rise to a completely different level.

Sadhguru on Happiness

All the best!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Ego as guru? - interfaith?

Has anyone ever considered their ego might assume the role of spiritual advisor.

Interesting concept ...

I found it here -

Here is an excerpt from Radical Happiness: A Guide to Awakening by Gina Lake about one of the guises the ego takes on. Sometimes the egoic mind (the voice in our head) takes on the tone of a spiritual advisor, which is called The Guru in this excerpt.

The ego can pretend to be good and wise, but that doesn’t make it so. It can sound like it has your best interests at heart, but the ego is a con man. Underneath the supposed wisdom is judgment, because The Guru is essentially The Judge, but on spiritual matters instead of mundane ones. The ego as The Guru is a con man because it cons us into thinking it’s guiding us spiritually, when it’s really creating the same contraction, discontentment, stress, and striving the ego is known for. When we are aligned with our true nature, we feel relaxed, at peace with life, content, happy, and loving. And we are naturally attuned to the wisdom of the Self (Essence). Listening to The Guru, however, doesn’t bring such peace and contentment, but only more striving and the sense that we still don’t measure up. The Guru shakes its finger at us, saying: “You’ll never be enlightened. You have to be more (fill in the blank)¬ and less (fill in the blank).”

Comes from this site - loads of free stuff too! Plus loook for her on YouTube ...

The Ego as Guru

All the best!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Characteristics of a happy family - plus suggested searches? -

Happy Family Secret No. 1: Enjoy Each Other

The essence of a happy family is that they truly uplift each other and that all comes down to how they treat each other, says Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, a New York-based family and relationship counselor and host of The Learning Channel's Shalom in the Home. "There is a joy that characterizes their interaction," says Boteach, father of eight children and author of several books, including the forthcoming Shalom in the Home. "Parents come home and the kids are happy to see them and when kids come home, the parents are happy to see them."

https://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/15-secrets-to-have-a-happy-family#1

Enjoy!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

From that Radical Happiness site - started a new thread -

Ego as guru

he spiritual ego drives people to try to attain enlightenment, when enlightenment is not something anyone can attain, least of all by striving, but quite the opposite. The spiritual ego strives for perfection because that is its idea of spirituality: “Be perfect, don’t make any mistakes, know everything, be wise.” It hopes to attain such perfection through practices, abstentions, and other means, but these activities are engaged in for the wrong reasons: to strengthen and empower the me instead of to dissolve it.

Best of luck!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Rules for a happy family? -

Spend Quality Time Together

A happy family needs to spend quality time together. That means stepping away from laptops, computers, and video games to really connect as a family. Go for walks, participate in sports, or play board games together as a family.

10 Secrets To Have An Amicable And Happy Family

All the best!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Amy Morin happiness -

Although there are countless books, websites, and speakers offering advice about how to achieve optimal levels of happiness, the exact path about how to get there remains a bit hazy. In fact, most people make incorrect assumptions about what will make them feel happy. These incorrect predictions lead people down the wrong trail as they expect happiness will be found right around the next corner.

Sometimes people incorrectly assume that having children, getting a new job, or becoming self-employed will automatically equate to increased happiness. But often, these changes don’t result in the increased happiness that people expect. When attempts to increase happiness fail, it can leave people feeling unhappier than ever.

Take for example a person who thinks that more money will equal more happiness. If he already makes a decent salary, a small raise isn’t likely to help. In fact, $75,000 seems to be the benchmark for happiness, according to research from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School. No matter how much over that mark people earn, they aren’t likely to experience increased happiness. So a person who works hard to earn a small raise might be sorely disappointed when that raise doesn’t deliver the expected boost in happiness and he may become even unhappier than before.

Comes from this site -

Why Chasing Happiness May Leave You Feeling Unhappier Than Ever -  Amy Morin, LCSW  

 

[Geoff-Allen]

From a recent email ...

Happiness open mind -

Research suggests the following benefits of open-mindedness:

Open-minded, cognitively complex individuals are less swayed by singular events and are more resistant to suggestion and manipulation.

Open-minded individuals are better able to predict how others will behave and are less prone to projection.

Open-minded individuals tend to score better on tests of general cognitive ability like the SAT or an IQ test. (Of course we don’t know whether being open-minded makes one smarter or vice versa.)

From this site -

Open-Mindedness | Authentic Happiness

Enjoy!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Happiness handle stress

One challenging aspect of stress is that it can pile up: activities that are mildly stressful can feel overwhelming when you are experiencing too much stress in other areas. Fortunately, it’s also true that small spurts of stress relief can accumulate, and can add up to increased resilience. One potential challenge that many people face when stressed and busy, however, is that they feel they lack the time or energy to practice some of the most stress-relieving and resilience-promoting activities when they need them the most.

For example, exercise is an extremely effective stress reliever, and can even build energy in the long run, but many people find it too difficult to face a workout when they’re already exhausted. Meditation can be an extremely calming activity that can also build resilience, but sometimes sitting quietly can seem to amplify stressful thoughts. (There are ways around both of these issues, but many people find it easier to simply give up.)

Comes from this site -

Science-Backed Ways to Feel Happier and Have Less Stress

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Toxic thinking

“I’ll be happy when...”

Tying your happiness to an achievement in the future ― such as losing 15 pounds, falling in love or getting a promotion ― is a dangerous game. Nicole Issa, a psychologist who serves clients in New York and Massachusetts, recommended changing your thinking pattern so you are not always willing your circumstances to change.

“Instead, think about what you imagine will be different when you move, lose weight, find love, etc., and how you will then be happy and try to cultivate some of those things right now,” she said.

Issa suggested reminding yourself that you can be happy right now if you try to work on these things through small changes, and that you will have a greater probability of getting where you want to be if you are happy. Take the first step by eating a healthy meal or signing yourself up for a dating app. Revel in those tiny steps, which can add up quickly.

14 Toxic Thoughts To Let Go Of If You Want To Be Happier

All the best!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Timeless tips happiness -

Happy people are content with what they have and only want for what they know they can get. This sense of reality in controlled doses allows these people to feel satisfied and fulfilled. While in reverse unhappy people never seem to have what they want, and they live in a constant torment of wants and needs.

As Democritus said -

"Happiness resides not in possessions and not in gold, the feeling of happiness dwells in the soul."

https://www.codeofliving.com/5-timeless-secrets-to-happiness/

Enjoy your day!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Food and mood -

There is a substantial and growing body of science that reveals how our food choices affect our moods. Generally, excessive amounts of alcohol (no surprise), simple sugars (think candy and pastries), as well as caffeine and certain vitamin deficiencies can negatively impact your mood.

There are foods that help and foods and beverages that hinder intentions to feel good, and enjoy our relationships, our work, and our health. This is a big topic and in this post I'm sharing some foods and recommendations to improve mental acuity, concentration, memory, focus, and overall health. These contribute to our abilty to be happy and enjoy our lives.

Codes to Joy

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Tips to boost your mental health -

People who are mentally healthy have

A sense of contentment

A zest for living and the ability to laugh and have fun.

The ability to deal with stress and bounce back from adversity.

A sense of meaning and purpose, in both their activities and their relationships.

The flexibility to learn new skills and adapt to change.

A balance between work and play, rest and activity, etc.

The ability to build and maintain fulfilling relationships.

Self-confidence and high self-esteem.

Building Better Mental Health

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Problem never part of a happy person't vocabulary -

More here -

10 Extremely Precise Words for Emotions You Didn’t Even Know You Had