Happiness is the one thing everybody in this world strives for; it is our one common human goal. Happiness can take different forms for everybody. For some women, happiness is holding their grandchildren for the first time. For others, happiness means finally having the independence to move into their own house or apartment. Happiness can even be the feeling of attaining that business promotion.
Though individual events can build your happiness, this is hard to quantify. How do you measure an emotion? The 2015 World Happiness Report hoped to achieve just that, and the report found that the United States ranked number 15 in terms of happiness. The 2016 report placed the United States at number 13, a slight improvement from the year before.
How do you know if you are truly happy? Is it something you feel? A physical state?
Research has suggested that both are actually true. If you experience a combination of any of the following things, then that’s probably a pretty good sign you have achieved peak happiness.
Huffington Post motivational speaker Tai Goodwin claims that there are tangible benefits to being happy for other people. Seeing friends and family members achieve milestones and being genuinely happy for their success is an admirable trait. Their happiness helps to increase your happiness, and spreading positive vibes with the people around you will have them wanting to send them your way, too.
If you’re reading this right now, you should relax all of the muscles and tension you may be holding in your body. If you don’t have much tension to let go of, that’s a sign that you’re generally pretty happy.
If you tend not to spend too much time worrying about the future or the past, that’s another sign that you’re generally happy. Michelle Keely, a leadership coach, told Reader’s Digest Canada, “All we have is right now.” There’s no time to stress about what could happen or what could have happened; you’re far too busy enjoying life right now.
This ties in with living in the moment. If you’re not afraid to live in the present, then you’re not afraid of change, either. You know that life is all sorts of wonderful and that things out of your control can and will happen, for better or for worse. You don’t spend too much time fretting about the future because you’re not afraid of change – you embrace it.
Surrounding yourselves with friends who are just as happy and positive as you are is a sure sign that you’re happy, and is also a great way to help you stay that way. Studies by Prevention have found that people who live within half a mile of friends who are positive and happy have a 42 percent chance of being happier themselves.
British researchers have found evidence that people with higher levels of happiness also have a lower heart rate and lower levels of cortisol in their saliva. Cortisol is a hormone associated with stress, and a lower heart rate can also lower your risk of heart disease. So, you can feel the physical effects of being happy as well.
In 2013, Huffington Post reported that realistic optimists generally tend to be happier in life and that optimists tend to live longer happier lives. It pays to be optimistic and you’ll find yourself feeling more positive when you’re truly content with your life.
A 2013 study done at Cornell University found a link between a good night’s sleep and happiness. Happier, more optimistic people tend to sleep better, which gives them the added health benefits associated with being well rested. It makes sense: if you have less to worry about and are happier in your life, you also have less to keep you up at all hours of the night, too.
