8. What is the meaning of happiness?
Happiness is:
A pleasant feeling
A positive evaluation or judgment
A favorable explanation after the fact
An optimistic expectation
A sense of inner peace
A sense of connectedness
A spiritual experience
10. Ed Diener’s Satisfaction with Life Scale
____ In most ways my life is close to my ideal.
____ The conditions of my life are excellent.
____ I am satisfied with my life.
____ So far I have gotten the important things I want in life.
____ If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.
11.
12.
13. How did Ikiru find meaning and happiness
with terminal cancer?
14. How did the Apostle Paul find meaning and happiness
in jail, waiting for execution?
15. How did Frankl find meaning and happiness
in Nazi death camps?
16. The new algebra of positive psychology:
The Meaning Difference
17. The new algebra of positive psychology:
The Power of Infinity
18. The new algebra of positive psychology:
Growing in Life through Subtraction
Everybody wants happiness, but very few people have found it. Some people may have the Charlie Brown problem; they fail to understand that life is full of ups and downs and so is our emotional life.
Another common mistake is that people look for happiness in all the wrong places.
The third common mistake is that people want pure happiness without pain, while true happiness often entails some form of struggle and suffering.
In time, tears will turn into joy.
Happiness is primarily an emotion, which has two basic dimensions.
Happiness is sometimes referred to as “subjective well-being”, which is intimately related to other dimensions of well-being. Therefore, happiness can be affected by many others factors, such as physical health, financial conditions, etc.
It is easy to talk about happiness, but difficult to define it. Actually, happiness has different meanings based on psychological research and every day experience. (See Daniel Gilbert’s Stumbling on Happiness)
This is a scientific formula for personal happiness. Read Ed Diener’s Science of Well-being and Sonja Lyubomirsky’s The How of Happiness. There is some debate that one’s happiness set point is not fixed. The main point is that happiness is not completely determined by one’s genes and environment. One can transform one’s mind and habits, resulting in a higher level of happiness. Remember that changing one’s mindset does not mean entertaining happy thoughts.
You can find the full scale here: http://internal.psychology.illinois.edu/~ediener/Documents/Understanding%20SWLS%20Scores.pdf
Happiness is not dependent on perfect life circumstances. You can still be happy in difficult times.
Martin Seligman’s 3-component theory of authentic happiness. Notice that Meaning represents a higher level of happiness.
Martin Seligman's New Theory of Flourishing. Meaning remains a key component of well-being, but his concept of meaning is not fully developed, because meaning means more than just being part of something bigger than oneself.
SYNOPSIS: ”Considered by some to be Akira Kurosawa’s greatest achievement, Ikiru presents the director at his most compassionate—affirming life through an exploration of a man’s death. Takashi Shimura portrays Kanji Watanabe, an aging bureaucrat with stomach cancer forced to strip the veneer off his existence and find meaning in his final days. Told in two parts, Ikiru offers Watanabe’s quest in the present, and then through a series of flashbacks. The result is a multifaceted look at a life through a prism of perspectives, resulting in a full portrait of a man who lacked understanding from others in life.” (http://www.criterion.com/films/353-ikiru)
What was Apostle's secret to rejoicing always, regardless of circumstances?
“A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth--that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world may still know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when a man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way--an honorable way--in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment. For the first time in my life, I was able to understand the words, ‘The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory.’” Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning
Meaning can make all the difference in your emotional equations. It can add a glow and a new sense of significance to positive emotions and transform negative emotions into positive ones.
When you add "infinity" to any negative number, you will still be in the positive territory. Your capacity for meaning making is infinite; therefore, meaning is your most powerful tool to transform negative emotions into positive ones.
Life is not purely an addition game. The good life includes both subtraction and multiplication.
You can be positive all the time, if you have faith, hope and love.
With a heart of gratitude and appreciation, you can always find something good in every day. Also note that positive psychologists emphasize happiness when life is in neutral or positive territories. Today we are focusing on how can we find happiness in very difficult times.
Only belief can help restore the magic in your life and relationships.
Often heaven or hell hinges on the decision made in a split second.
A real friend is a rare fine and the most reliable source of happiness.
The most effective way to change your life is to transform your mind.
The best turning points in your life are often the worst crises that inflict much pain and injury on you.
Whatever happens to you in life, no matter how sad, can be made into a beautiful quilt of love and gratitude.
Where can you find happiness? Look no further than within yourself!
