Tag Archives: happiness

What We Truly Need

Every person has a different take on what one truly needs as opposed to what they want. Over time as a culture we collectively define our needs and those needs change over time. The never-ending question is ultimately what do we need to live and what do we need to be happy.

Obviously, we support looking through the archives of Things Are Good for our tips on bringing more happiness to your life.

Over at the Bucks Blog at the New York Times this issue was recently brought.

From personal experience, I know that the shiny new toy I just had to have often ends up in a pile of things that I eventually need to sell on eBay. I’m not the only one that’s fighting this battle. It’s yet another example of why personal finance can be so complex. Because there’s no definitive list of the 100 things that every family must have, these end up being very personal decisions.

Read the full post.

Happiest Commuters Walk or Cycle to Work

Many cyclists can go on for hours about how great riding a bicycle everyday is (I know I can), and it has been proven that walking can make you happier too. It comes as no surprise then that walking or bicycling as your preferred commuting solution makes you happier.

What is surprising is that this conclusion of happy commuting comes from Statistics Canada!

Two-thirds of cyclists said they were very satisfied with their commute. Only 6 per cent were dissatisfied, according to a Statistics Canada survey of more than 6,000 people across the country.

It’s a striking difference from their car and transit-riding brethren. Only 32 per cent of drivers and 25 per cent of public transit users were very satisfied with their trip to work.

Read the rest of the article.

Get Cultured for a Happier Life

People who play an instrument, go to museums, or are otherwise involved in culture are happier than those who don’t according to a new study. This is great news for people who want to feel happier or generally improve your life because all you have to do is essentially go and be entertained!

Researchers led by Koenraad Cuypers of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology analysed information culled from 50,797 adults living in Norway’s Nord-Trondelag County.

The participants were asked detailed questions about their leisure habits and how they perceived their own state of health, satisfaction with life and levels of depression and anxiety.

The results were unambiguous and somewhat unexpected: not only was the correlation strong between cultural activities and happiness, but men felt better when they were spectators while women clearly preferred doing rather than watching.

Even more surprising was that wealth and education were not an issue.

Read the full article at MNN.

Being Grateful Can Lengthen Your life

Being grateful and appreciating the world around you can contribute not only how good you feel but also to how long you’ll live. New research has drawn a connection between positive thoughts and enjoying them to a gernally happier life.

Hopefully this isn’t a surprise to anyone.

Adults who frequently feel grateful have more energy, more optimism, more social connections and more happiness than those who do not, according to studies conducted over the past decade. They’re also less likely to be depressed, envious, greedy or alcoholics. They earn more money, sleep more soundly, exercise more regularly and have greater resistance to viral infections.
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Much of the research on gratitude has looked at associations, not cause-and-effect relationships; it’s possible that people who are happy, healthy and successful simply have more to be grateful for. But in a landmark study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 2003, Dr. Emmons and University of Miami psychologist Michael McCullough showed that counting blessings can actually make people feel better.

The researchers randomly divided more than 100 undergraduates into three groups. One group was asked to list five things they were grateful for during the past week for 10 consecutive weeks. The second group listed five things that annoyed them each week and the third group simply listed five events that had occurred. They also completed detailed questionnaires about their physical and mental health before, during and after.

Those who listed blessings each week had fewer health complaints, exercised more regularly and felt better about their lives in general than the other two groups.

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