How to be happier

Most of us probably have an understanding of what the word ‘happy’ means and don’t believe we need a dictionary to tell us. After all, it’s something to do with well-being, being positive, joy and gratitude isn’t it? Or is it? As I was thinking about this article, it occurred to me to find out if there was a single dictionary definition for the word “happy” and the results were interesting! According to the Oxford English Dictionary the word ‘happy’ means ‘feeling or showing pleasure or contentment, fortunate and convenient, inclined to use a specified thing excessively or at random‘. Merriam Webster says happy is ‘1 : favored by luck or fortune : fortunate a happy coincidence. 2 : notably fitting, effective, or well adapted : felicitous a happy choice. 3a : enjoying or characterized by well-being and contentment is the happiest person I know a happy childhood’. And the Collins dictionary tells us that ‘Someone who is happy has feelings of pleasure, usually because something nice has happened or because they feel satisfied with their life‘. What struck me was they all imply that to be ‘happy’ something has to happen to us from the outside. They even suggest that happiness is associated in some way with luck, and that only the fortunate few are entitled to experience it. This attitude is compounded by the all the positive psychology books about how to be happier which reflect a common belief that happiness is fleeting and that it...
Source: The Hysterectomy Association - Category: OBGYN Authors: Tags: Happiness thinking Source Type: news