What is the deal with “Happy”? Pharrell and Bobby McFerrin sing about it, creators of the “100 Happy Days Challenge” invite people to post pictures of moments of happiness daily for 100 days, and students at Harvard flock to its most popular course “Positive Psychology” to gain insight, as the course description says:
“The course focuses on the psychological aspects of a fulfilling and flourishing life. Topics include happiness, self-esteem, empathy, friendship, love, achievement, creativity, music, spirituality, and humor.”
Why all this focus on happiness? Could it be because “happy” is elusive, not easily definable and a challenging level for a great number of people to reach psychologically? For me personally, I have moments in my life when I have felt truly happy but that is not a constant. Could I force myself to be happy merely by practicing it? I first latched on to this idea when I took the “Can You be Happy for 100 Days?” challenge. You might be seeing this all over social media, with participants hashtagging photos with #100daysofhappy. Started by 27-year-old Dmitry Golubnichy, the worldwide initiative’s goal is to find joy in little things and feature the small moments of happiness in photos over the course of 100 days. I jumped on the bandwagon, reached my 100 days, and yet I still feel like the same person as before. I cannot say that I am happier, but I am more in tune with recognizing and acknowledging within myself the things which make me happy during my daily life. In looking back over my 100 days of posts, it was the simple things that made me happy; a glass of wine and socializing, nature, new bike socks, family and friends. It was the things I take for granted.
As I continued on with this “happy” quest, I came across a documentary on Public Television called “Happy”. Directed and written by Roko Belic, this is a film about happiness and trying to figure out what the word truly means. As students learn in the course at Harvard “Positive Psychology”, there are many components in the brain that contribute to being happy. I was really surprised to learn that
- 50% of what makes happiness is genetic
- 10% is ‘situational’
- The remaining 40% is up for grabs
This really got me thinking. 50% genetic – really? It seems the underlying determinant in being genetically disposed towards happiness are possessing traits such as “being sociable, active, stable, hardworking and conscientious,”. These happiness traits generally come as a package, so that if you have one you’re likely to have them all. It appears that biology plays a huge role in happiness, through an untold number of genes involved in forming personality. This can be somewhat terrifying, especially if your genes are stacked against you, but not to fear – 40% is up for grabs.
The 10% ‘situational’ is really interesting. The film “Happy” reveals that through various scientific research, things that most people equate with happiness (success, money, riches) do not end up making you happy. Wealth levels have a limited impact on happiness. This is no surprise to biologists, because money is a relatively recent development in the history of human evolution. Of course human being are not built to track wealth.
This 10 % is what prompted Roko Belic to make the film “Happy”. According to Belic, once he became successful, moved to Los Angeles and lived near ultra wealthy successful people , he noticed that a great many of them were not happy. He began wondering – if all of this fame, wealth and success does not make people who on the outside look like they have it all happy – what does? Random people interviewed and sampled when asked “What would make you happy?” generally said wealth, fame and financial success. WRONG . It seems as if we are all barking up the wrong tree.
Scientists say material objects such as iPhones, being wealthy and owning a sports car cannot fit the bill for happiness. Clues to our behaviors can be found in the brain chemical dopamine, which is the key to the body’s reward system. Strangely, in chimpanzees, dopamine levels peak not when they are going to get an award but when they realize the award is coming. That’s very similar to our response to money. Once we get it, the temporary happiness factor fades and disappears. So if 10% of the happiness factor is situational, just exactly what “situation” should you put yourself in – in other words – how can you make that 10% bleed over into the 40% that is “up for grabs” and enjoy the fruits of being totally happy?
What does make someone happy? Scientists say a close circle of friends and family is the most important ingredient for happiness. You gain more happiness from experiences, rather than acquisitions. This got me reflecting on my posts for 100 Happy Days. It was not my paycheck, shopping, and acquiring that I posted pictures of but my interactions with family and friends – the simple things. To me, happiness is what you have in your daily life that you cannot measure by wealth. It is not something you chase, rather it is something that is already there – you just have to notice it. The “100 Days of Happy” got me to notice it and it is something that we can “choose”. Just be happy – sound ridiculous?
Life Experiences Add Up 