Who’s Happier Men or Women?
Some studies find that women are happier because testosterone is correlated with lower happiness levels, while other studies report that men are happier because life is simpler for men who don’t have to juggle multiple competing roles the way working women do.
A recently reported study followed a cohort of Harvard undergrads for 75 years (yes, they were all male) and came up with some pretty solid guidelines for being happy. Despite the exclusion of women from the study, or maybe because of this “oversight,” the results definitely point to something women are more tuned into than most men are: connections with other people are the source of happiness! Wow…it took 75 years to figure that out!
Nevertheless the 5 lessons reported by the researchers for how to have a happier and more meaningful life are lessons for everyone.
All You Need Is Love
Money, status, and power, even health don’t hold a candle to love: If you don’t have supportive, loving relationships, you won’t be happy. Close, loving relationships are the key to happiness.
Enjoy Your Work
In the long run, contentment with your work overrides the amount of money and power your job or position gives you. While money can provide you with freedom, if you look back over your life and feel content with how you’ve spent your time, you are more likely to be happy than someone with less contentment and more money.
Change is Possible
In this study, even men who started out with the bleakest chances for happiness were able to turn it around. If you’ve had a rough start in life, by looking for and finding love, you can find happiness.
Here’s a tip: What you focus on expands. If you focus on how miserable you are, you will remain unhappy. If you choose to focus on love, and whatever love is in your life now, you will become a happier person.
It’s All About Relationships
People who have strong social connections are happier and more satisfied with their lives. This isn’t about having 5,000 Facebook friends or sitting on a dozen boards. This is about feeling accepted for who you are and being yourself with a circle of people who care about you and your well-being.
What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger
You can grow through your challenges. Challenges are opportunities to grow out of early narcissism and into connectedness. The study cites both Mother Teresa and Beethoven who turned miserable childhoods into service to other people, by directly taking care of other or through creativity that enhances the lives of millions of people.
If you want happiness for an hour — take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day — go fishing.
If you want happiness for a year — inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime — help someone else.
~Chinese Proverb
