...things, whatever their number, contribute surprisingly little -- somewhere between 8 and 15% -- to our sustained happiness. Variables such as age, education, health, income, personal appearance, and even climate are ineffective at overriding our genetically determined set point.
...external factors have little impact on our level of happiness...our brains...turn out to be amazingly adapable to both good and bad circumstances...scientists can observe neurons firing most urgently to new stimuli; once nerves habituate to a situation, whatever its nature, they respond less...lottery winners ...[or]paraplegic from an accident...Within a year after the event that changed their lives, they were pretty much back to their earlier level of happiness. That holds just as true for less dramatic conditions, says Lyubomirsky [professor of psychology at U of CA-Riverside and one of the originators of the happiness formula.] "If you make a stable change -- ...buy a bigger house... -- you'll get used to it after a while and return to your set point. It works the opposite way as well, which is why daily hassles make people very unhappy. You never get a chance to adapt because the conditions are constantly changing." Liz Seymour
I don't know whether this can be seen as good or bad. Good, if you are going through tough times, because you can hold onto the idea that a sense of normal will return, even if time doesn't heal all ills, despite the adage. Bad, if you were really hoping that what you hoped for would do the trick on a permanent basis.
But isn't it better to be aware of this than not to be and then be surprised when our highs aren't sustained as we had thought. It takes some work to stay on top.
The same parameters that would seem to keep us at a certain happiness set point are the same parameters that lead to progress for all of us. After all, if we were happy and content with the status quo always, we'd still be in caves. A certain level of discontent and unhappiness leads us to find new solutions to old problems.
It's the daily hassle thing we have to watch out for.
Sometimes I think it is similar to changing a channel on TV. We don't watch a program we dislike. We shouldn't have to think a thought just because it appears on the horizon of our consciousness. After a point, dismiss it or turn to something else to think about. Which is, of course, sometimes easier said than done, especially if we haven't trained ourselves to do that -- or didn't realize we could.
Not so surprisingly finding things to be grateful for contributes to our happiness. Of course, sometimes I just don't want to go there, say, if I'm mad...but eventually I do, and I do feel better. More about that (and what scientists find for those who do that) after a couple more parts.
Karin
Originally posted 2007-09-22 07:26:42.
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