It was only a few days after my surgery and I was down in the laundry room, taking care of the laundry. Never in my wildest dreams would I have believed that I would be elated to be doing the laundry. But here I was, down in the windowless laundry room with a big grin on my face. I even hummed a happy tune to myself! So, why was I so happy?
I was happy for absolutely no reason that anyone would think of as extraordinary or as an actual cause for happiness. Yet here I was, exuberantly happy. I was happy to be out of bed and possessing enough physical energy and proper balance to make my way down the stairs and tackle lifting clothes that felt rather heavy that day. I was happy that my health was returning to me!
That same week I received an email telling me that I could listen to an author talk about her book, Happy for No Reason. I knew that I had to make time to listen. I’d like to share with you some of what I discovered.
Marci Shimoff describes in her book how she was experiencing incredible success in her career yet she still often felt unhappy and dissatisfied. So, she decided to find out what makes people happy.
She read research report after research report on happiness and found the amazing statistic that “less than 30% of people report being deeply happy”.
She also discovered that researchers in the field of positive psychology (the study of positive emotions; like happiness) have discovered that “we each have a happiness set-point, the genetic and learned tendency to remain at a certain level of happiness, similar to the thermostat on a furnace.” For example, the researchers found that most lottery winners return to their happiness set-point after about a year. And even more telling I think, is that most new quadriplegics also return to their happiness set-point after about a year.
Fortunately, we can learn how to increase our set-points. Shimoff interviewed hundreds of people who had raised their own happiness set-point by living with purpose, having nourishing relationships or by accessing the power of the mind, heart, body, or soul.
After hearing Shimoff’s talk, I have set the intention to raise my happiness set-point by connecting with and listening to my heart each day. I know that my heart points the way to discovering what will make me deeply happy and how I can share that happiness with those around me.
Will you join me in this adventure?
You can receive the free, guided meditation, Listening to the Wisdom of Your Heart, by filling in the sign-up box at the top-right of this page.
