Scientists have been studying Happiness for years now and are starting to make breakthroughs and amazing ones at that. Amazing, if only, because they’re finding that our happiness comes from being better people.
No example works better in this instance than by showing compassion. Compassion, it seems, is the secret key to happiness.
A few quotables and the link below:
the parts of our brains that are active when we experience pleasure (like dessert, money, sex) are equally active when we observe someone giving money to charity as when we receive money ourselves!
A study examining the trait most highly valued in potential romantic partners suggests a different story: both men and women rate kindness as one of their most desired traits.
Why are the lives of people like Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, and Desmond Tutu so inspiring? Research byJonathan Haidt at the University of Virginia suggests that seeing someone helping another person creates a state of “elevation.” Have you ever been moved to tears by seeing someone’s loving and compassionate behavior? Haidt’s data suggests that it may be this elevation that then inspires us to help others — and it may just be the force behind a chain reaction of giving.
THE BEST KEPT SECRET TO HAPPINESS: COMPASSION
(E. Seppala, Project Happiness.org)
ericryangrant.com 