01 Aug Why you SHOULD pursue happiness!
by Britt Reints from the Huffington Post
There is a lot of advice on the Internet about how to be happier. Some of it is good, some of it is strange and some of it makes me think I must be strange because running will never make me happy. Never ever. But there is one piece of advice that makes me flat out angry.
If you want to be happy, stop trying to be happy.
I've seen this crop up a lot lately (again), and it is usually supported by links to research that is said to prove that the pursuit of happiness makes people unhappy. Part of the problem is that's not exactly what the research says.
What the research says is that relationships are a strong indicator of happiness. That means caring about other people can make you happier, and having an outward focus can be more rewarding than trying to find something to fix inside yourself. It does not mean that ignoring your own needs and desires in an effort to maintain relationships is the choice that will leave you happiest. It doesn't mean your own happiness is irrelevant.
The research also says that people who "set happiness standards that are difficult to obtain," can feel disappointed when they don't achieve those standards. That doesn't mean choosing happiness makes you unhappy. It means thinking you're supposed to be ridiculously happy all the time is unrealistic. It means focusing on happiness as an end result, as opposed to a process, is ineffective.
While the research itself appears to be sound, there is a whole lot being lost in the delivery. The watered down result is hurtful…
…keep reading more HERE