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H for Happiness, Helping and Hope

barbara bates • Jun 07, 2022
H for Happiness

Are you happy? 
 
I wonder if this is a question we often stop to consider, in the busy-ness of daily life. If we did, what would be the markers of happiness? What is it, and how do we know we've got it? Is it just a sense of well-being and general satisfaction, or is there more to it than this 'subjective well-being'?
 
You won't be surprised to hear that researchers have looked at this too. One very well-regarded writer in this field is Sonja Lyubomirsky, and she takes the idea of Happiness further to include a sense of purpose, describing it as 'the experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile'. 
 
In her book, The How of Happiness, she gives twelve Happiness Strategies that really work. Here's the first three, 
  • Express gratitude

  • Cultivate optimism

  • Avoid overthinking and social comparison. 
You can see the rest in her book at the link above. Which one appeals to you? 
 
H for Helping

Carrying on from my comments before about Giving and Receiving, I wanted to extend that context a bit into the general area of Helping as a whole, of which it's part. 
 
It's been wonderful to see how much 'helping' has been going on in the UK over the last year, in the most difficult of times. By the end of March 2020, over 700,000 people had already volunteered to help the NHS in different ways, and I find that so heart-warming and encouraging. Then there are lots of small local groups that have organised and risen to the challenge. 
 
We've had Captain Tom and many others raising funds to help the NHS - which is ultimately helping people, all of us - and on our local news we have a daily 'Shout-Out' to thank people who've gone the extra mile to help someone. 
 
You could say Helping is an extension of Kindness, and it really does circulate good will and well-being, linking the giver and the receiver of 'help' in a wonderful virtuous circle 
 
What's not to like? Even more, what's one thing you could do to help today - in whatever area you feel called to act?

H for Hope

I'm sure you've heard of the seven deadly sins - but did you know there are also three theological virtues? 
 
Hope is so important that it's one of them! And it turns out that Hope is really important for well-being too. If we have no hope we soon fall into despair and apathy, and who wants to be down there?
 
It's clearly similar to Optimism, which is one of Sonja Lyubomirsky's Happiness Strategies, as above, and it is possible to cultivate it by deliberate practice. In these times of pandemic, war, climate change, floods and I don't know what else, it's worth putting some effort into checking our pessimistic tendencies. It's much more motivating to be optimistic as it gives you a sense of control, however small that might feel. 
 
A good exercise to do is to imagine how your life can be in the future, when everything's turned out all right. When you really step into that vision it can become a compelling image drawing you forward and making it more likely to happen. 
 
What do you really really hope for? And what's one thing you can do now to help it along? 
 
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