In commemoration of World Happiness Day, our psychology specialist, Neus García Guerra, talks about nine premises to achieve the longed-for happiness. Our psychologist thinks that we tend to idealize happiness, to believe that there are ideal lives that are associated with happiness. Like the lives of multimillionaires or famous movie actors. The tendency to idealize that comes with comparing ourselves and feeling unhappy makes us less happy. Because it makes us feel that, in this world, there are people who have access to happiness and we are not of this group of people. Human beings feel happiness when they achieve their goals. Happiness is a state of mind of satisfaction at a given moment. It arises from satisfaction and therefore, it is not stable, it is an episodic phenomenon. Happiness is found in the enriching experiences that are lived to achieve a goal, because once achieved what was desired, the satisfaction is very short.
1.- When you love the process you live to achieve a goal and you are not obsessed with the goal, then, you find moments of happiness. Testing our capabilities leads to personal self-satisfaction, to confidence in our abilities. Nietzsche tells us that to be happy is to be able to test one’s life force by overcoming adversities and creating original ways of living. Happiness is not only feeling good, but having the idea that one is on the right track and is able to achieve the desired goals.
Our happiness cannot depend on actions that we will do in the future or in the past. Lao Tzu affirms that happiness depends on living in the present. The person who only thinks about the future or only thinks about the past, generates anxiety and stops enjoying the present moment and true existence.
Happiness is not associated with social welfare but is totally related to the subjective evaluation of the person. It is related to a subjective state of the individual. It arises at a moment in which joy and satisfaction converge. It is a subjective condition because it is a state of mind particular to each individual and not all of us are happy for the same reasons.
4.- Personal growth and happiness go hand in hand, overcoming ourselves and valuing the progress we make, has to do with our values and not for what we have. Only by being proud of ourselves, facing difficulties and putting effort we can feel happiness.
Happiness is not achieved with great things, which may happen only a few times, but with small things that happen every day.
6.- Gandhi defends the idea of being oneself, he says: Happiness is only found when you take the risk of exploring the depths of who you really are. Having children, raising a family or career achievements represent a satisfaction, but no one knows true happiness until it is found within oneself.
7.- Living for a project is what gives meaning to life. And a life full of meaning is, even if it is affected by suffering, what makes us happy. What we do for the project is what gives us happiness.
The last and most important, since it is the precondition for all that has been pointed out in the previous premises. It is essential to know what I count on to make the path. The capacities that I have and can use and also the difficulties that I have and that I will need to take into account to help me. As well as giving me encouragement and valuing what I am achieving, without losing heart. Avoid criticizing and reproaching myself for what I am doing. It is essential to have a good relationship with oneself to feel satisfaction and access the states of happiness.