I typed a query in Google: What should we do that is both effective and feasible for increasing our happiness, starting today? After studying the top results, I found that the following are the top 10 things you should do. Invest in family and friends: to improve our closest relationships by sharing experiences and freeing up time to spend together. Join a Club: to join a group and have a sense of belonging and protect against loneliness and isolation. Be active both mentally and physically: walk and read for an hour. Get physical exercise regular exercise of all different types enhances mood and social functioning. Act Nicely: Be Agreeable to everybody. Be Generous: Behaving altruistically toward others rewards the brain with happiness-enhancing boosts. Check your health: things that create the greatest unhappiness are typically chronic pain and anxiety. Experience Nature: walking in a woodland setting more dramatically lowers stress, increases positive mood, and enhances working memory. Socialize with colleagues outside your work: work friendships increase employee engagement, which is associated with both happiness and productivity for workers. The final point which surprised me was to practice your religion. Religious people tend to be happier than those who are not.
This is a big paradox. Throughout the ages, humanity has conflicted over religion. They have resorted to violence, wars, terrorism, tyranny, persecution in the name of religious expansionism and compliance. Invaders have plundered the continents in the name of expanding the religion. Others have been lured by money and incentives to expand their religion. That way I am proud to be part of Indian culture and belief system which accept multiple sources of divinity and believed in coexistence. In fact we have millions of Gods within our culture. We have never expanded or killed others for their belief system. But worldwide we have seen mass destruction and misery in the name of religion. On the other hand at an individual or personal level it’s the belief system or religion which results in inner peace with the events happening in your life. There is a certain logic attached to actions. It gives humanity a conviction to endure the grief and seek happiness. In the search of happiness, you need to have a traditional faith or you need to practice it traditionally. However, for the purposes of happiness, religion can be understood more broadly, as a spiritual or philosophical path in life. It is a search for transcendent truths beyond your narrow day-to-day life.
Let me start with my own journey towards religion. I have seen my own transformation from being atheist to agnostic and now a conformist. When you are young, you have some false sense of romanticism, incorrect sense of know it all arrogance, some immature ideas and false self-belief. No one teaches you about the life as good as the life itself. Life has been a roller coaster ride and I assume it’s the same for all only the gradients of the climb and troughs along the routes vary. Having seen highs and lows, one gets a very serene outlook to take it all phlegmatically. There were some very strange incidences in life where I was saved by nothing short of divine intervention when I was lost in the jungle during a trek gone wrong. There were business situations where some strange hitches helped taking some strange decisions which proved good in the longer run. Then there were near death experiences which turned out fine at the end. Of course to every upside there is downside. But even during the hardships, there were occasions when only stubborn sense of survival based on strength given by the religious beliefs prevailed and helped me carry through. More or less all of us have been through peaks and valleys of life and have our sense of belief system to rely upon. But having that belief system is part of our process to seek happiness. One thing to note here is the difference in religion and faith. Faith is individual belief system. It can be any form of worship as against religion which prescribes to one or many way to worship. But let’s not complicate the matter. Having faith system is very crucial to individual or collective happiness
Just like me, People who are believers or have belief system have a certain mind-set; the power of prayer, the belief in an afterlife, the sense that someone is looking after you, that there is a higher power that things happen for a reason. This mind-set helps people make sense of tragedy, struggles and loss. Another positive thing about religion is socialization. Being a part of society or a community which share same beliefs celebrate festivals and so on really helps Individual add happiness. Being accepted as a contributing member of community sharing same belief system is rewarding.
There are many myths and false notions for seeking happiness. Many people believe in “If it feels good, do it” philosophy. Unfortunately this can lure us toward bad habits and away from deep purpose. There is also “Let your anger out” belief which research clearly shows leads to more anger, not relief. All the advice to let yourself be managed by your emotions and desires is not that great.
If you really want to get happier, you need a fully integrated strategy rather than a disconnected tactics. A happiness strategy should have three parts to it. First, you need to commit yourself to understanding happiness. That can mean many things, whether it’s learning about the science of happiness, studying philosophy, or immersing you in a faith practice. Second, you need to practice good happiness hygiene. Finally, share your knowledge and progress with others. Beyond being an ethical thing to do, teaching will cement your philosophy and habits into your consciousness. The most important thing to remember is this: You don’t have to leave your happiness up to chance. No matter where you live or what you do, you can manage your own joy and share it with others.
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