Pursuit of Happiness as described by Benjamin Franklin... "The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself"...
As an internet marketer, I found it curious that the keyword phrase, "how to get happy" is a highly searched phrase on the internet.
Why is it that people have to be told how to get happy?
Recent studies have proven to us that, contrary to popular belief, it American happiness is actually less prominent than in other countries.
And why would that be?
Aren't we the "richest" country? Don't we have all the amenities and luxuries? We are the ones with a TV in every room and multiple computers and at least two cars in every household. So what does that tell us?
Money doesn't buy happiness?
No doubt you've heard that cliché many times, yet only half-heartedly believe it.
The truth about the pursuit of happiness is this...
If you're homeless, and find that you have basic human needs that are not being met, then you will, indeed, believe that money is the path to how to get happy. After all, with enough money, you will no longer have to go to be freezing or hungry, and you will no longer need to worry about household expenses or where the next dollar will come from to buy food.
However, once your basic human needs are met, more money actually does NOT bring a higher level of happiness...
Research has shown that more money will tend to make people into a stronger version of what they already are; if you're generous, you'll be more generous, if you're paranoid, you'll be more paranoid, and if you're selfish, you'll be more selfish.
Yet, after our basic human needs are met, we tend to want more. But more of what? Studies have shown that 50% of what makes us happy is actually genetic.
And, surprisingly, only 10% of our happiness has to do with our environment - our spouse, children, job, etc. This leaves a whopping 40% to where we may venture the pursuit of happiness - and find it!
In studying the pursuit of happiness in other cultures, researchers have found the answer to what exactly it is to which we should be in pursuit...
Take Japan, for instance. The average Japanese person is even less happy than the average American.
Many Japanese people are literally worked to death in their jobs, and feeling a desperate "disconnect" with how to get happy. They may home and are greeted happily by their children, but they don't have the energy or desire to play and have fun. However, in contrast, the Japanese
Okinawa islands have a totally different culture...
The islanders here are known to have discovered the secret to how to be happy, as they have been called the happiest culture in the world! Given that 50% of our "pursuit of happiness potent" is due to genes, this speaks volumes for that 40% of our lives that we are in control of!
Another culture in Denmark has also been found to have people who seem to be extremely happy most of the time...
When you look at the living conditions at Denmark and Okinawa, as compared to most of America, one might wonder why the average American is so much more unhappy - yet always in "pursuit of happiness". Oddly enough, the happiness part of America was found to be New Orleans, where some might say is the poorest section of America.
So what's the "pursuit of happiness" secret for how to get happy?
The common denominator found in the cultures that appeared to be the happiest was connection with family and friends.
In Denmark, many families have taken on communal living, where the culture dictates to look after each other. Strange how this is also the case in the Okinawa islands.
Not that money is at all evil, but the tendency when we have a lot of money is to feel independent...
Some believe that it's actually the American dream to be able to be independent enough to support yourself and lean on nobody. Could that be the problem?
While having enough money to make ends meet is necessary, true happiness resides with finding inner peace, and that has to do with more than money.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nancy_Harnell
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