Apparently, 50% of our happiness level is predetermined. Set in stone. From birth. That’s how powerful our genes are. But here’s the surprising bit: Only 10-20% of our happiness are down to those factors we commonly think will make us happy. How astonishing! Overall, wealth, health, life circumstances, age, gender, and occupation can’t do very much to raise our level of happiness.
Key are the remaining 30-40%: They are determined by how we think and act.
Happiness…
So today, do something that you know will make you happy, even if you “don’t have time”.
Call an old friend. Read a poem. Meditate. Have a cup of tea while re-reading your favourite book. Take time to laugh.
And maybe tonight, when you fall asleep, hold hands with your partner – just as otters do!
At night, otters hold each other’s paws so that they won’t drift apart while sleeping. Now, how amazing is that? And if this made you smile, well, then it’s brought already a tiny bit of happiness to your day!
Categories: Happiness, Inspiration, Nourish Body & Mind
Yoga & Joyful Living 
Otters always make me smile. They’re one of my favorite animals.
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They awesome, aren’t they? There are entire websites dedicated to nothing but cute otter pictures! 🙂
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Little bits of happiness are the inspiration for my blog. This is a great one. It makes me glad to see that it usually comes from small and unexpected places! Really enjoying the positivity in your other posts as well, looking forward to reading more.
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Hello there and thanks for commenting! Please don’t tell anyone, but a lot of these posts also serve as gentle reminders to myself! 😉
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And otters are so cute! How can they not make you smile!!
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Coincidentally I was holding hands with my partner when reading your post. That makes me happy! Another silly thing that made me happy another day was sharing a bag of chips with a stranger on a tram. It’s nice to see a smile on someone else’s face… 🙂
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Isn’t it amazing how small, seemingly insignificant things can make our day – and someone else’s? 🙂
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gorgeous 🙂 I am going to have a happy, rest day today: yoga class in the morning, then I’m going to set up a writers camp in my favourite cafe and do what I do best 🙂 Yay!
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Love this! Otters make me happy. 🙂
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Your statement “50% of our happiness level is predetermined” is not correct. Is a misinterpretation of the concept heritability. See http://www.indiana.edu/~p1013447/dictionary/herit.htm
for an explanation.
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Thanks for reading – I guess happiness is hard to quantify, but research points to the 50% figure, for example a study done by researchers at the University of Minnesota, also mentioned in this NYT article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/opinion/sunday/a-formula-for-happiness.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
In any case what’s striking is how much depends on our outlook rather than actual circumstances.
Andrea
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This did make me smile! How cute is that. I think we all forget to nurture ourselves and allow happiness, so thanks for the reminder.
Karen
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Nice post, I was watching a program on otters the other week and found out that baby otters can only float (not swim). Very cute
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Inspiring! Thanks for sharing!
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