{"id":287,"date":"2011-08-26T09:00:52","date_gmt":"2011-08-26T13:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/?p=287"},"modified":"2012-01-25T15:04:16","modified_gmt":"2012-01-25T20:04:16","slug":"what-makes-you-happy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2011\/08\/what-makes-you-happy.html","title":{"rendered":"What Makes You Happy?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I had to laugh when I read this USA Today<\/em> newspaper headline: “Psychologists now know what makes people happy.” I didn’t know happiness was a secret to be discovered by my noble profession! Curious, I kept reading. Here is what psychologists found to be true about happiness: <\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The happiest people are those who spend the least time alone and pursue intimacy and personal growth.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. Happy people don’t judge themselves by what others do or have.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. Materialism is toxic for happiness.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. Optimism is important, even in dark times.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
            \n
          1. Actions matter. It’s not just what you believe or your outlook on life that contributes to happiness.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
              \n
            1. People who give to others and aren’t self-absorbed are more satisfied with life.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                \n
              1. Happy people know their strengths and use them.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                  \n
                1. People who feel gratitude are happy.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                    \n
                  1. The strongest link to happiness is a willingness to forgive others.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                    Happiness is unrelated to events, money, power, fame or anything else our culture associates it with.<\/p>\n

                    Happiness is a choice, as the Scriptures declare: “Happy are the people who are in such a state. Happy are the people whose God is the Lord” (Ps. 144:15<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                    I had to laugh when I read this USA Today newspaper headline: “Psychologists now know what makes people happy.” I didn’t know happiness was a secret to be discovered by my noble profession! Curious, I kept reading. Here is what psychologists found to be true about happiness: The happiest people are those who spend the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[916,925],"tags":[204,201,200,198,199,202,203],"class_list":["post-287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-god-relationship","category-mintle-mentions","tag-actions","tag-forgiveness","tag-grateful","tag-happiness","tag-happy","tag-materialism","tag-optimism"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Makes You Happy?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2011\/08\/what-makes-you-happy.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Makes You Happy?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I had to laugh when I read this USA Today newspaper headline: “Psychologists now know what makes people happy.” I didn’t know happiness was a secret to be discovered by my noble profession! Curious, I kept reading. 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