How happiness is defined varies by person. In this episode, we talk about happiness definitions by happiness scientists. Tune in to see if you agree! 

 

Transcript:

 

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in about 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and what we know is that happiness isn’t always a fleeting feeling ‘I’m happy and then I’m not’ - it’s an overall satisfaction of your life.  Are you a happy person?  A lot of people describe happiness as a range of positive emotions. 

 

In her 2007 book The How of Happiness, positive psychology researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky (LU-BO-MER-SKE) describes how scientists refer to happiness as “the experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile.”

 

So while happy people experience more positive emotions, joy, love, contentment, and experience less negative emotions, that doesn’t mean to say that happy people don’t have negative emotions, of course they do.  But what this research indicates, is that positive emotion is only one side of the coin.   You can experience a lot of positive emotions and still not be a truly happy person.  

 

The research indicates that you need the other side of the proverbial coin too.  And that’s having a sense of satisfaction and purpose in your life. Feeling like you are progressing toward your life goals.  

 

I think of this as a yin-and-yang.  You can have a high sense of purpose and satisfaction and not experience a wealth of happy emotions.  I think about the months after having babies and having a high purpose, but oftentimes, because of hormones, new moms, in those early months are not flooded with an abundance of happy emotions.  

 

The goal is to find harmony between both sides of the coin, for you.  The one side is happy emotions and the other is satisfaction and purpose.  When we put them all together, we achieve fulfilled happiness.   

 

Join me in conversation about happiness topics over on Instagram @everydayhappinesswithkatie. 

 

And remember, kindness is contagious.

 

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