04 Oct Are you a parent? If so, then your happiness really matters!
by Christine Carter from the Huffington Post
Every time I watch this hilarious video of a little girl cheering herself on, I think: Her parents must be pretty happy people. I don't know for sure, of course, but my guess is that they model happiness and confidence and gratitude on a daily basis, and she's simply copying them.
So whenever I see research which shows that parents are, on average, less happy than their childless counterparts, my heart sinks. Equally devastating to me is the research that reveals how my generation of women is unhappier than previous generations. If we aren't happy, our children aren't likely to be happy, either.
Many parents today are unhappy, but they assume that their stress and anxiety and even depression are all just part of being a parent today.
Researchers know a lot about why parents, particularly women, are less happy today than they have been in previous generations, and we have a pretty good idea how to fix it. The new science of happiness gives us a clear roadmap — a guide to those activities, skills, and beliefs that are highly likely to raise our happiness.
Happiness is a Property of Groups
Although we usually think of happiness as being an individual trait or a function of our personal experience, it isn't just those things. It is also a property of our social groups!
Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler explain how…
…see the video (referred to above) and read the full and original happiness story HERE