-
A trouble shared is a trouble halved
Being happy means spending more time focussing on the good things than the bad, and we spread ripples of happiness when we do this in conversation with others. Complaining about how bad your life is only brings other people down as well as yourself. However, if something is weighing you down despite your efforts to […]
-
Job satisfaction
Isn’t it nice to receive good service? A while ago I bought a vacuum cleaner, but had to return it because of a faulty part. I half expected to have to argue my case, but was delighted to find the shop assistants both pleasant and helpful. Rather than return the whole vacuum cleaner to the […]
-
Compassion makes me happy
“I am happy when in spite of the ills of the planet and of those close to me I still have the capacity to feel compassion for others. To live without compassion is a one way journey to a lonely place.” ~ Beryl Fletcher Congratulations to Beryl Fletcher, whose response to the question: “What makes […]
-
Social benefits of laughter
In the last newsletter I wrote about the health benefits of laughter; today I’ll talk about the social benefits. After studying 1,200 people laughing spontaneously, Robert Provine concluded that the main purpose of laughter is to bind people together. It’s an instinctive language that we all speak. We laugh when others are laughing, we laugh […]
-
Happiness and altruism go hand in hand
It was good to see people getting together in the spirit of giving, during the Telethon this weekend. There’s no doubt that doing something nice for somebody else makes you feel good. In fact, the pleasure seems to last even longer than doing something nice for yourself. Research has shown time and again that happiness […]
-
Can we afford the luxury of happiness in a recession?
Times are hard. Can we really afford to focus on happiness during a recession? Shouldn’t we be knuckling down and tightening our belts, putting on a brave face until things get better? To think this way is to equate happiness with comfort and prosperity, a common mistake in our capitalist culture. For decades advertisements have […]
-
Group Influence
Welcome to the first Happy Nation newsletter! Happy Nation aims to promote individual and social happiness. This means recognising that none of us is an island and that our happiness is deeply affected by the society we live in. Ever noticed that some people, or groups of people, make you feel good, while others bring […]