Humans can re-programme their minds to generate happiness

Renee Singh

Happiness is what we all chase, although differently. This is also because everyone experiences happiness differently. Feelings, some people seem to realise, are highly overrated. Chasing happiness and joy is basically chasing your own inherent feelings.

HAPPY FEEL

Katherine Mansfield has described it as the most rapturous moment, like the glowing sun. We all chase some sensations, but these only come to us when we least expect them.

POSITIVE NOTE

It is the belief of most people that we could find happiness if only we knew where to look for it. It is a state of self-understanding.

ENVIRONMENT MATTERS

Our thoughts and emotions, which are totally influenced by our environment, are directly responsible for our levels of happiness and joy. With the right exercises, we can increase our capacity for happiness.

IN OUR GENES

We can easily identify that as much as our environment is responsible for our happiness, so is our genetic structure. So we can say that not only is our brain responsible for our happiness, but it is also our cultural surroundings and the daily occurrences that set the processes in motion.

PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES

Depression is the heavy price paid by 25 per cent of the world population. Depression itself is threatening people like the plague did in the early ages. We need to urgently change this.

IT’S A CULTURE

We urgently need to step into a culture of happiness. Joy is the transition of mind into a state of happiness. Joy affects the body as much as the mind. Happiness strengthens the body.

AVOID FEAR

We can say that just as much as unhappiness destroys our health, happiness strengthens it. Fear is the main factor controlling our stress levels and thereby affecting our health.

JOYFUL LIFE

Happiness makes people smart, not just momentarily, but permanently.

Positive feelings promote new nerve connections. Positive moods trigger more successful scenarios. Everyone has a unique happiness quotient. We can re-programme our minds to generate happiness, to lead joyful and more successful lives.

(Singh is a Chandigarh-based psychotherapist)