Many people have the misunderstanding that they cannot attain happiness. Some people say that some people are merely born with something that makes them happy, but that is not the case. After reading the blog, the main idea I want you to take from it is that you can control your happiness, and there is not some significant life event that you should be waiting for. Some people think, “Oh, I will be happy when I finish college.” They will then finish college and still be unhappy, resulting in them saying, “I will be happy when I have children.” Sadly, they continue to remain distraught and keep repeating this vicious cycle of disappointment until the day they die. The typical day and every second can contain things that make you happy. It is just a matter of you changing your perception and completing activities that you find fulfilling. A book called “The How of Happiness” revealed an interesting statistic showing what makes people happy. Various studies determined that 50% of happiness comes from a genetic standpoint, 40% comes from intentional activity, and 10% comes from one’s circumstance.
The statistics show that you can control 40% of your happiness with actions, behaviors, and mindsets you choose to have. Now, this is not some motivational speaker without any evidence. This is empirical data that supports the fact that people can control their happiness. Therefore, you can choose to be happy and create happiness by things you can start now. While people may say that it is hard to change their actions, mindsets, and behaviors entirely, you can start with the little things that will gradually grow into something larger. Being a human myself, I understand that life can occasionally be a struggle, and you may find it challenging to find something that results in happiness. Sometimes our expectations can be so high that we become disappointed that things did not go according to plan. However, when you can find joy out of numerous things, what can stop you. One of my most useful mindsets is that if the world went as I expected it to, it would remove the excitement of risks and surprises. Changing your mindset and coming to believe in its existence gives you happiness that is always inside of you; it is solely a matter of reaching for it.
While you can control your happiness, your genetics has a dramatic impact on happiness. It can give you personality traits that make it easier to be in more instances that can make you happy such as fulfilling relationships, asking questions and being curious, or a want for an adventure. However, you can manipulate your strong personality traits to help find happiness or modify your personality traits with intentional activities. Then there are also some genetic factors such as the serotonin transporter gene that can cause depression. People with this gene are more likely to react negatively to adverse situations. Although you can improve your reactions to stress, have critical support systems to aid you, or avoid incredibly stressful scenarios to prevent these genes’ expression. There are also genes such as the 5-HTTLPR, a gene linked to larger amounts of happiness. While genes may be a strong determinant for happiness, you modulate your contentment with what time you give yourself.
Finally, circumstances play a small 10% of happiness still consists of environmental factors. Circumstances are harder to change since it is difficult to change social class, economic status, and beauty. Even people who achieve new circumstances feel a boost of happiness for a short period before reaching a plateau of joy similar to its previous point. This occurs due to a rise in expectations and new desires resulting in people adapting to their new conditions and wanting more. For example, people who receive plastic surgery may feel happier with their beauty, but eventually, they become dissatisfied and regret their decision. Another thing that could occur is that they realize it is not the beauty they wanted, and they remain miserable. The main idea here is that a change in circumstance may not significantly influence you, or it could not be what you wanted. However, a change in circumstances may not reach this plateau point, and it could have a small impact on your life. I will not cross out a change in circumstances to promote happiness, but it is far more effective to change your activities and attitude.
This blog’s significance is that it explains how impactful intentional activities can be to promote happiness in your life. You do control your happiness because genetics works with environmental factors to determine your level of satisfaction. You have the power to be happy right now because it is inside of you and not something you can need to find. Hopefully, this realization motivates you to do things and think in ways that make you happy and not let a vile cycle of sadness control you.
