Why is Happiness So Important?

We all know that happiness is a positive emotion. It feels good to be happy. And so we seek out moments and experiences in our lives in order to elicit this feeling. But scientifically speaking, what exactly is happiness?

Author and Positive Psychology Researcher, Sonja Lyubomirsky, describes happiness in her book, The How of Happiness, as “the experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one's life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile.”

Science tells us that we are wired for survival. That’s why good things tend to slide off like Teflon and bad things tend to stick like Velcro. In terms of survival, it’s important for our brains to retain negative experiences. When our early ancestors ate a poisonous plant, it was crucial for them to remember this in order to pass that information along to others. This adaptation is apparent when we’re having a great day, only for one negative experience to seemingly ruin the whole day as we focus solely on the negative.

Simply put, it takes practice to be happy. It’s naturally easier for us to focus on the negative, which is why we have to refocus our brains on the positive. We can train our brains over time to allow for greater happiness by practicing gratitude, actively looking for the good around us and being present. Doing this regularly, creates new neuropathways that can change the way we see the world. This is called neuroplasticity, “the capacity of neurons and neural networks in the brain to change their connections and behavior in response to new information, sensory stimulation, development, damage, or dysfunction”. Thanks to neuroplasticity, we can actually change our brains, do away with old habits, and improve our mindset.

Once our brains are retrained to focus on the good, we start automatically looking for the positive, even during difficult times. I recently lost family members to Covid, as so many of us have. Through my sorrow, rather than only focusing on the pain and sadness, I was able to search for the good. I recalled happy memories, reminded myself of the quality time I was able to spend with them, and held onto the fact that we expressed that we loved each other. It didn’t take away the grief, but it helped me get through it.

Our brains are 50% genetic, 10% what happens to us, and the remaining 40% we have the ability to change. Happiness is a choice that anyone can make. As psychologist, William James, put it, “The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human can alter his life by altering his attitude."

So why does all of this matter? Why do we need happiness? What does it do for us? The answer is, much more than most people realize! Happiness doesn’t just feel good, it can actually lower your risk for cardiovascular disease, lower blood pressure, enable you to sleep better, improve your diet, allow you to maintain a healthy body weight, get regular exercise and reduces stress.

Happiness truly can affect our mental and physical health, improving our overall wellbeing. It’s not a destination, it’s a journey that takes commitment to living a life true to our values. We must be willing to explore and understand ourselves and be open to growth, self-care, self-compassion, self-respect and self-love.

Through practice, our brains will create new neuropathways over time, allowing us to more easily brush off the negative, and experience greater happiness in our lives.

If you need a great tool to help you get started with a new gratitude practice, or something beautiful to inspire your current practice, click here. Gratitude journals are a wonderful way to give the gift of self-care to yourself or someone you care about.