Happiness and Unhappiness

Happiness & Unhappiness

According to psychologist Professor Ed Diener happiness is made up of several vital ingredients: 

 Firstly, family and friends are crucial – the wider and deeper the relationships with those around you the better. Marriage also seems to be very important. According to research the effect of marriage adds an average of seven years to the life of a man and something like four for a woman. 

 The second vital ingredient is having meaning in life, a belief in something bigger than you – from religion, spirituality, or a philosophy of life 

 The third element is having goals embedded in your long term values that you are working for, but also that you find enjoyable. Psychologists say that you can find satisfaction when you have interesting goals to work on by using your strengths and abilities. 

 Professor Ed Diener also identifies two key events that can have lasting unhappiness. After the loss of a spouse, it can take several years to regain the previous level of well-being. The loss of a job can affect a person for years even they are back to work. You cannot be happy all the time; at least you can look at the bright side of things. Every cloud has a silver lining.

Image source:https://www.slideshare.net/Squteacher/happiness-unhappiness