Happiness: All You Need is Your Mind
Is the pursuit of happiness a realistic endeavor? Can something as ephemeral as happiness be affected by personal effort and stratagems? Can the average level of one’s happiness really be increased? In 1977, Dr. Michael Fordyce scientifically verified that it is possible to increase happiness though mental training.
So, what does one need to start pursuing happiness? All you need is your mind. Of course, enough food to eat and half-decent shelter is helpful, these things will help you keep your mind focused. After these requirements are met you are ready to seek happiness. The very first step in the pursuit of happiness is learning. The pursuit of happiness is mostly an intellectual effort. Creating increased happiness in your life is not always that easy. Cultural barriers, knowledge barriers and a myriad distractions will pull you away from your pursuit.
Now, people all over the world, even those ignorant of happiness as a discrete concept already pursue happiness daily, so what makes our pursuit different? The difference is that most people pursue happiness indirectly. People pursue happiness by seeking money, fame, power and possessions; people hope that these things will generate happiness within them. Our single-minded pursuit of happiness is different because we seek happiness directly; the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. The overall procedure for increasing happiness runs something like this: A) methodically identify factors that increase positive feelings and B) methodically identify factors that decrease negative feelings. The pursuit of happiness is similar in kind to the efforts of Thomas Edison and his invention of the light bulb. We are constantly seeking the elusive tungsten filament of the mind; the pursuit of happiness is all about exploration, creativity and experimentation.
To my knowledge, happiness cannot be achieved by using only one technique, multiple techniques are necessary. Taking care of your mind is similar to taking care of your body; it requires many methods. A body needs a diverse spectrum of nutrients, there are also assorted methods of personal hygiene and exercise; these techniques can often be very sophisticated. Generating constant happiness in the human mind is no different, many techniques are necessary.
