Optimism Leads to Happiness

For over 3 years the American Dream Project has been asking the very simple, yet surprisingly difficult question, “Are you happy?” To help you take a closer, honest look at this question we have been conducting an online Dream Life Assessment. This questionnaire asks participants to grade themselves on key questions related to happiness. Over 10,000 people of all ages and walks of life have responded. For the next few weeks we’re going to be sending you the first series of blogs revealing findings from this research. If you have not taken the Dream Life Assessment yourself, please visit our website at http://americandreamproject.org and participate. You’ll find it very engaging and extremely helpful.

In the past few decades literally hundreds of studies have been conducted worldwide to determine what makes people feel happy. It has been found that one major element of happiness is positive emotions, and one of the strongest positive emotions is optimism. Optimism is the expec¬tation that tomorrow will be better than today, that I will be able to handle all chal¬lenges that life deals out and that the people I love will be okay. While optimism is a key element to happiness, so many of us find it difficult to achieve.

On the Dream Life Assessment 39.96% feel that that they usually have positive feelings about their life and their future, and 12.61% feel depressed and overwhelmed a lot and worry that their life isn’t going to turn out the way they wish it would.

While these results can be viewed pessimistically with less than half of the participants feeling optimistic, let’s take our own optimistic approach instead. 40% have positive feelings about their life and future. 40% are able to rise above the constant negative media bombarding our television sets and radio broadcasts. 40% are able to believe in a good future for themselves and their children. Great! But what about the rest?

It turns out that we are not naturally very good at being content and happy with our present life. We are bad at predicting what events will make us happy and also bad at predicting how long we’ll feel sad after a disappointment. For example, we are wrong at predicting just how happy a new house will make us or how long a job disappointment will make us sad. We constantly distract ourselves from what truly makes us happy.

But life is supposed to feel good. We are de¬signed to live in joy and contentment. Human beings are not designed to suffer. That’s simply our choice. We can find happy optimistic people in all of life’s situations from concentration camps to paraplegics to natural disaster victims. Very few of us will find ourselves in conditions that would lead us to permanently give up.

Research reveals a major key is gratitude. When we feel grateful for the good in our lives, it turbo charges positive feelings. When you focus on just one thing you are grateful for, you will begin to notice your soul bringing your attention to the many ways you might be grateful for even simple things. This is not trivial. Our minds are caught in the snares of a media culture driven to stimulate us to discontent. We must choose gratitude. One way to amplify gratitude is to tell others what we are grateful for. Make it a habit. Affirming your life to someone else creates a new emotional ecology within.

Finally, remember to smile. The physical act of smiling stimulates brain chemistry that elevates your mood. Grateful thoughts, plus a smile creates grateful feelings, which create optimism, creativity, and lowers stress. No, it’s not just sappy. It’s a fact.

So don’t get used to the good things in your life. Always treat them with awe and wonder. Of all the people who have ever lived, we are among the most fortunate. Amazing.

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