What is it that makes us happy?

I just read a very long but interesting article: The New Science of Happiness by Claudia Wallis. As you can guess from the title, it's all about happiness...

So what exactly is it that makes us happy? Is it money, good education, youth, marriage, sunny days, religion or rather friends and family? Have guess..
No, it's certainly not wealth that makes us happy. Research has shown that once your basic needs are met, additional income does little to raise your sense of satisfaction with life. Good education or a high IQ doesn't help you either and also youth doesn't bring happiness. A recent survey found that people ages 20-24 are sad for an average of 3.4 days a month, whereas people ages 65-74 are only sad for about 2.3 days a month, which shows that old people are much happier. It's also true that married people are generally happier than singles. (By the way, in a different article I read that married people have more sex than singles - and more orgasms. So that might also be a cause of happiness). What about sunny days? Sorry, the article claims that this is not a reason for happiness, although I don't really agree with that. Don't you have the feeling that people living in the warm sunny south are happier than those from the cold rainy north? I can only speak for myself, but I'm in a much better mood when the sun is shining and it's warm outside. Anyway, religious faith is said to lift the spirit, though you could argue whether it's the God part or the community aspect that makes us feel better. When you ask people what makes them happy, I'm sure most will answer with 'friends or family'. And really, studies found that people with strong ties to friends and family are less prone to depression.

The author also mentions a new tool for sizing up happiness, which has been presented only recently: the day-reconstruction method. Participants had to fill out a long diary and questionnaire each day, listing all the things they did, with whom they did it and how they felt doing it. 900 Texan women were tested in this research. Now have guess: What were the five most positive activities for these women? - It was sex, socializing, relaxing, praying or meditating and eating (in descending order). While exercising and watching TV was close behind, "taking care of my children", cooking and housework polled very badly. (And I always thought children are a mother's greatest joy...)

Now the big question: Is it possible to get happier? Scientists found out that 50% of our satisfaction with life comes from genetic programming. Even so, the article presents a few ways to improve your state of happiness:

The gratitude journal: Writing down things for which your are thankful once a week can significantly increase your overall satisfaction with life over a period of six weeks.

Gratitude exercise: Believe it or not, but exercise doesn't only improve physical health but also raises energy levels and, for patients with neuromuscular disease, relieves pain and fatigue.

Performing acts of altruism or kindness: Doing five kind acts a week, especially all in a single day ( like helping a friend or visiting a nursing home) makes you more satisfied with your life.

Making a gratitude visit: Writing a testimonial thanking to someone to whom you owe a debt of gratitude and then visiting that person to read him or her the letter of appreciation makes you measurably happier and less depressed a month later. But unfortunately your state of happiness will only last three months.

Three blessings: Each day write down a trio of things that went well and why. Three months later you'll be less depressed and happier.

So why doing all these acts of gratitude and kindness? - Volunteering and giving makes us feel good about ourselves and it gives us a sense of purpose. So maybe you would like to try one of these exercises and let me know whether they worked or not :-)