Happiness

This week, I finished the audiobook for The Happiness Project. As I’d expected, it made me very happy to learn to do something new and to get a glimpse into the unfamiliar world of sound recording.

It was also thrilling to learn that none other than Jim Dale had sat in the very same seat that I was using, when he was recording Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It took him three weeks! And they had top, top security.

What surprised me most about the recording process was how emotional I became while reading certain parts of the book. I literally choked up and had to take a drink of water and a deep breath before I could continue (quite embarrassing). Read More

Several weeks ago, my now 15-month-old son developed a fever to 103.5 F. Usually a champion sleeper, that night he woke several times with a frenetic look in his eyes and a jerkiness to his movements that frankly unnerved me. The heat coming off his little febrile body almost made me start sweating myself. He had no other symptoms to suggest the cause of his fevers, and even though our pediatrician had been reassuring when I'd called early in the day ("fevers in kids are a dime a dozen"), my doctor brain was kicking in full-blast with worry over it's cause. Read More

Today: Back by popular demand...fifteen tips to avoid nagging.

I've posted this list before, but I'm posting it again, because the issue of nagging is something that people raise with me frequently in discussions of happiness. It turns out that being a nag is just as unpleasant as being nagged -- so figuring out how to end nagging brings a real happiness boost to a relationship. Read More

To successfully manage stress and anxiety, you must learn to recognize and neutralize you habitual emotional reactivity. Mindfulness Meditation offers the tools for doing this, and you can learn mindfulness meditation therapy online through a personalized email correspondence course. Read More

The latest fad in motivation is the Law of Attraction or more popularly The Secret after the motion picture and book by Rhonda Byrne. The Secret claims that the more intent you are in your wish for health, wealth, and friends, the faster the universe will act upon it. Is it real, or is it VooDoo science? Read More

Sometimes people ask, “If you had to pick just one thing, what would be the one secret to a happy life?” The answer is clear: strong bonds with other people. If I had to pick one thing, that’s it. The wisdom of the ages and the current scientific studies agree on this point.

On that subject, I just finished a fascinating book by John Cacioppo and William Patrick, Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection. The book underscores the conclusion that few things will challenge your happiness more than loneliness. Read More

The world seems to be growing weary of positive psychology. But before we jettison the whole endeavor, we should remember that positive psychology has served as an important corrective. This is not to say, of course, that there is nothing in positive psychology that cannot be criticized. But maybe there is a better way to measure happiness, one that has nothing to do with questionnaires Read More

Emotions have a bad rep these days. Especially in medical research, emotions are usually the enemies. This orientation is understandable with respect to rage, but laughing and crying also are treated as pathological. There are many studies of a new diagnosis called Emotional Lability (EL) and the even more extreme one, Emotional Incontinence (EI). Read More

A few weeks ago, I posted Eight excellent tips for living that my parents gave me. Soon after, I ran into a friend who said, “I loved the tips your parents gave you. My mother had a great one, too. She always said, ‘When you’re in a hurry, take your time.’” Read More