How to Be Happy 101

Happiness is not really a warm gun, momma. Then what is it, exactly? The Los Angeles Times offers up the opinions of a few experts, such as Ed Diener, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois, who began studying happiness in 1981. The good news from Diener is that materialism isn’t bad. It’s only bad if we use it to replace other
things in life like meaningful work, a good marriage, kids and friends.
Sonja Lyubomirsky, a professor of psychology at UC Riverside and author
of "The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You
Want," tells the Times that happiness is like the Holy Grail.
"People around the world want it. If you ask people what they want for
their children, they’ll say for them to be happy. It’s in our
Declaration of Independence. It matters to and affects everyone."
The paper reports that Lyubomirsky analyzed studies on identical twins and
other research and came to the conclusion that happiness is 50%
genetic, 40% intentional and 10% circumstantial. "Half of your
predisposition toward happiness you can’t change," she says. "It’s in
your genes. Your circumstances — where you live, your health, your
work, your marriage — can be tough to change. But most people are
surprised that circumstances don’t account for as much of their
happiness as they think."
Read more about what happiness may or may not be in the L.A Times.