The largest single contributor to happiness (aside from genetics) is meaningful relationships with other people. The stronger the social network of friends and family, the happier a person is. Stepping outside your comfort zone to make new friends is definitely worth your while. A person with more than ten close friends is twice as likely to be very happy as someone with no close friends, and remember that happier people attract friends much more easily than people who dwell on life’s disappointments.
In addition to friendship, marriage has also been proven to be an essential part of lasting happiness. Married people more often describe themselves as happy than do people who have never married. There is significant increase in happiness after people get married, but happiness also brings marriage. Happy people are more likely than unhappy people to get married in the first place.
While marriage increases happiness, having children has been shown to actually lower a person’s happiness—at least for a short while. Kids are hard, but that’s part of our mission in life: to do hard things, to perfect ourselves. While happiness may be lowered initially, parents find great meaning in providing unconditional love for children, and meaning is the highest form of happiness. Unconditional love itself is a source of happiness. Paradoxically, your happiness is raised by the fact that you are willing to have your happiness lowered through years of dirty diapers and tantrums. Kids are an important part of a happy lifestyle. When people are asked, “What one thing in life has brought you the greatest happiness?” the number-one answer is children, grandchildren, or both.
No comments:
Post a Comment