Positive Psychology: Are we born happy, or can we learn happiness?

There are many lines of thought going around on this subject and with positive psychology still being new on the science scene it tends to be push and pull with information. The most vital element that has resonated with me the most through my reading is that being happy is a choice. We can choose to be happy.

By no means is it an easy choice, it takes hard work and conscious choices every single day. It includes identifying things that don’t contribute to making us feel good about ourselves and our surroundings and make different choices or create different actions to avoid these negative things.

Easier said than done right?

Well, there’s a strategy here for us to look at when we decide we want to make this change. When you know the facts of what makes you happy you can choose to do the same things you love, choose to use your gifts and talents to be fully expressed and entirely yourself. (Feeley, 2015).

So, to put this into action think about a time in your life when you were happy. What were you doing that triggered that sense of confidence and peace?

Happiness isn’t something that can be switched on like a light bulb during difficult times but with the knowledge, facts and life experience to know what makes us happy we have something to work towards.

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony” - Gandhi

Resource: Huffpost. Michael Feeley. (2015). YES! Happiness is a Choice. Retrieved from: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/yes-happinessis-a-choice_b_8210564