Sad? Depressed? Understanding What Makes People Happy Can Help You Stop Living An Unhappy Life

Are you often sad or depressed? If you're like most people who are living an unhappy life, you probably do not know what makes people happy. If this applies to you, it's going to be difficult to create happiness for yourself.

This hub is not about clinical depression, which requires professional help. This is for people who would like to be happier, but they do not really understand what is causing their unhappiness.

Warning: If you’re always sad or depressed, you may have clinical depression which requires medical attention. If you have clinical depression, the extreme opposite of happiness, this causes important changes in your brain chemistry and can lead to serious problems. Getting help from your physician or mental health professional — for example, by getting medication or therapy — can relieve some of the clinical depression symptoms and help you feel better. Your physician or therapist can also offer you some guidance on how to be happy after your clinical depression is managed.

The popular Happy Meal and happy hour do not bring happiness for many sad and depressed Americans...

It's shocking that in a place where the Happy Meal and happy hour are so popular, millions of Americans are often feeling sad and depressed. They do not know what makes people happy -- and they do not know how to be happy.

Most people are often miserable and unhappy... and they usually don’t do anything to find a solution for their unhappiness. Most unhappy people hope that they will be happy someday — they will be happy when they find their ideal soul mate… they will be happy vwhen they finish school and start their dream career… they will be happy when they land their perfect job… they will be happy when they make a lot of money… and so on.

Why are so many people living a miserable and unhappy life?

The truth is that most people just don’t know how to be happy. They don’t know how to take simple pleasures in everyday life.

Most people know how to entertain and amuse themselves — they know how to have fun... they know how to go to parties… they know how to go to the best shows — but, they don’t know how to be happy.

Most people know how to achieve their career goals and succeed — they know how to move up the corporate ladder... they know how to build a successful business... they know how to achieve incredible things in their careers — they expect and hope to find happiness *after* they achieve their financial and career goals, but they usually still end up being miserable.

Most people know how to create wealth, but they don’t know how to create happiness. Most people know how to have fun on dates, but they don’t know how to be happy in their relationships.

Sadly, you can learn almost anything at school — except how to be happy.

Most parents teach their children valuable skills in life, but they usually don’t teach their children how to be happy. Quite often, the reason is that they can not teach what they do not know.

Why is happiness such an elusive concept for most people? Happiness is not something that we can pursue directly — it’s usually the by-product of doing things we love to do.

What makes people happy?

Most happy people are passionate about various things — they are happy when they are doing the work they love… they are happy when they are spending time with their family and friends… they are happy when they’re enjoying art or music… they are happy when they’re walking in the park… they are happy when they’re dancing or just reading quietly.

Most happy people find happiness just by enjoying the process of living and doing the things they love.

How do you increase your happiness?

According to Martin E. P. Seligman, author of “Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment,” the best strategy for increasing your level of happiness involves working on the three components of happiness:

• Meaning — You can find a sense of purpose in your life. You can find ways to make your life more meaningful.
• Engagement — You can become more engaged in what you do. You can increase the depth of your involvement with your friends, family and other relationships as well as your work, hobbies and play.
• Pleasure — You can savor more sensory experiences and get more pleasure out of life.

In addition to having more fun and getting more pleasure out of life, you can focus on improving the components of happiness that can provide the biggest and most lasting payoff – engagement and meaning.

The most fundamental finding from studies on the psychology of happiness is that being with other people makes people happy. The “need to belong” is important in life satisfaction. So, it’s important to work on improving your social skills in order to build social support and closer connections with others. In turn, this can lead to greater happiness and satisfaction in life.

Some people want to choose happiness in life, but they have more difficulty making positive changes. If this applies to you, some of your habits may be getting in the way of finding happiness.

By applying the new findings in brain plasticity, you can have a better chance of breaking unhealthy habits permanently and improving your life. You can overcome roadblocks that may have kept you from living your best life. By changing your brain, you can change your life. Instead of feeling sad and depressed, you can live a happier and more satisfying life.

Instead of living an unhappy life, you can find happiness just by enjoying the process of living — by being yourself and doing the things you love. The most important question isn't what makes other people happy, but what makes you happy.

By understanding yourself and knowing what makes you truly happy, you can follow your bliss wherever it leads you