100 Things/ Happiness: Facts

1. The term 'Happiness' is said to be derived from the feeling of one's belly being tickled by seaweed 
2. The porpoise language has 237 words that mean Happy 
3. The term 'Happy' Originated between 1300-50, Middle English 
4. Genes and upbringing influence about 50% of the variation in our personal happiness 
5. Our circumstances (income and environment) affect only about 10 percent of our happiness level 
6. 40% is of our happiness is accounted for by our outlook and activities, including our relationships, friendships and jobs, our engagement in the community and our involvement in sports and hobbies 
7. A good mood has a distinct smell. Scientists have found that people can judge whether someone is in a positive mood from their body odour alone 
8. Older people are more satisfied with there lives than younger people 
9. If you do 20 minutes of exercise, three days per week for six months, your general feeling of happiness will improve by 10-20%. 
10. People who rate in the upper reaches of happiness on psychological tests develop about 50% more antibodies than average in response to flu vaccines 
11. Denmark is officially the happiest nation in the world 
12. Malta is the second happiness nation in the world 
13. Iceand is the third happiest nation in the world 
14. In the USA clinical depression is 3-10 times more common today than two generations ago 
15. Immigrants tend to acquire the happiness characteristics of the nation to which they move, not the nation from which they were born 
16. Richer workers tend to be happier than poorer colleagues 
17. Happy people tend to have greater potential to become rich 
18. People who suffer strokes or other debilitating diseases suffer tremendously in the short term but after a while their happiness is only slightly below the average of the population 
19. When people get married their happiness peaks, but after a while their happiness returns to the level it was before they got married 
20. Women tend to experience their all-time lowest life satisfaction at age 37 
21. Men typically experience their all-time lowest life satisfaction at age 42 
22. Having 100-200 belly laughs a day is the equivalent of a high impact workout, burning off up to 500 calories 
23. Studies of Olympic athletes found that bronze medal winners are happier than silver medal winners and sometimes happier than gold medallists 
24. Among the things that make people happy are sport, music and - most of all dancing 
25. Several studies have shown that a pet can promote health and happiness 
26. After basic needs are met, extra material wealth has little or no effect on life satisfaction or happiness 
27. Broadly speaking you would need to receive a windfall of more than £1 million to transform you from an unhappy person to a happy person and even then the effect is often temporary 
28. People in steady relationships are generally happier than singles 
29. In nations with high levels of income equality, such as the Scandinavian countries, happiness tends to be higher than in nations with unequal wealth distribution, such as the USA 
30. Children who hugged and cuddled more while growing up are more likely to be happy when they reach 40 than those who didn't 
31. Education and intelligence do not make you more happy than anyone else 
32. The most powerful way to increase your short-term feelings of happiness is to perform random acts of kindness to others 
33. The most powerful way to increase your long-term feelings of happiness is to understand your strengths and talents, or life purpose, and to work on sharing those parts of yourself with others 
34. Happier people are more likely to retain relationships 
35. Americans consider happiness more important to them than money, moral goodness, and even going to Heaven 
36. Americans' personal income has increased more than two and a half times over the last fifty years, but their happiness level has remained the same 
37. Happier people are more creative 
38. Happier people do better in their jobs 
39. Happier people are more resilient. People who are optimistic about the future, and about their ability to make an impact on their future, are better suited to persevere in the face of adversity and find opportunities for growth 
40. Do at least one thing per day completely will improve happiness 
41. Every night, reflect on the things that went well that day 
42. If you rely on unreliable objects for your happiness, you will not end up happy. What is an unreliable object? A person, a situation, the future, a house, possessions, money, status. None of these can offer you a guarantee of happiness because they are outside your control 
43. Happiness breeds more happiness 
44. Happiness is a word that refers to a state that can’t be defined in words. Many words point to happiness – peace, ease, well being, love – but none of them defines it accurately. True happiness is a state, an experience 
45. Happiness is a choice 
46. The happiest people are those who are living and working what they are passionate about irrelevant of financial return or compensation 
47. Happy people are healthier in general 
48. Estimates suggest that the increase in salary needed to compensate in happiness for not being in a close relationship was £50,000 
49. Emotions last only a few seconds. If you've ever been stuck in a bad mood for days on end, this might sound unlikely. But the reality is that each emotion we experience lasts only a few seconds 
50. The left side is the activated when people are feeling happy and that the balance of activity between right and left moves as mood changes 
51. Matthieu Ricard, a Buddhist monk and translator to the Dalai Lama, has been dubbed ‘the happiest man in the world’ 
52. We become anxious about how we are faring relative to others, this affect our happiness 
53. When we want something and then attain it, we don’t seem to be any better off. They called this the hedonic treadmill, It’s like we are walking on a treadmill but not really getting anywhere because we are adapting to things 
54. Winners of the lottery's life satisfaction was not significantly greater a year after winning 
55. The book, 'In praise of Slow' suggest the idea that by slowing down we can enjoy richer, fuller lives 
56. Self-reported happiness correlates well with measurements of bodily functioning, such as blood pressure, heart rate and immune system responses 
57. In the mid-18th century, the Scottish philosopher Frances Hutcheson was the first to describe the best society as the one that had "the greatest happiness of the greatest number" 
58. Thomas Jefferson asserted that "the care of human life and happiness… is the only legitimate objective of good government" 
59. Surveys in Britain and the U.S. show that people are no happier now than in the 1950s - despite massive economic growth 
60. Trust is a major determinant of happiness in a society. Levels of trust vary widely between countries 
61. Economic stability has a large effect on the happiness of society, while long-term economic growth has little. Unemployment reduces happiness by as much as bereavement 
62. Surveys show that for many people long periods of unhappiness are followed by long periods of happiness 
63. Empathy is a part of our nature. If a friend suffers an electric shock, it hurts in exactly the same point of the brain as if you yourself suffer an electric shock 
64. Studies have shown that giving money away tends to make people happier than spending it on themselves 
65. In an experiment, individuals with a positive outlook were less likely to get flu when exposed to the virus 
66. Happiness fuels success, not the other way around 
67. We are happier when young and old and least happy in middle age 
68. Keep learning new things 
69. Be happy with who you are 
70. Connect with people 
71. Take care of your body 
72. Take a positive approach 
73. Do things for others 
74. Happy people have more energy - Happy people have more energy and are therefore more efficient at everything they do 
75. Happy people learn faster - When you’re happy and relaxed, you’re much more open to learning new things at work and thereby increasing your productivity 
76. Happy people worry less about making mistakes – and consequently make fewer mistakes 
77. Happy people fix problems instead of complaining about them 
78. Chocolate is associated with the release of serotonin, the hormone that makes you feel relaxed, calm, and happy 
79. The fastest growing segment of the anti-depressant market is pre-school children 
80. Happy people live an average of 9 years longer than unhappy people 
81. Smiling releases endorphins and makes us feel better. Even “faking” a smile can lead to feeling happier 
82. individuals can be “trained” to be twenty-five percent happier through various training programs in from two to ten weeks 
83. Happiness is a mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy 
84. Philosophers and religious thinkers often define happiness in terms of living a good life, or flourishing, rather than simply as an emotion 
85. Happiness in this older sense was used to translate the Greek Eudaimonia, and is still used in virtue ethics 
86. Happiness = the quality or state of being happy, good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy. 
87. Happiness is one of the "Big Six" emotions 
88. High concentrations of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine leads to feelings of elation and euphoria 
89. Applications of coping strategies (learned behaviors) can increase a person's level of happiness. How do coping strategies improve a person's mood? Again, successfully coping with a challenge increases the amount of norepinephrine released in the brain. For instance, aerobic exercise (which is used as a coping strategy by many persons) can actually stimulate the output of norepinephrine by as much as four and one half times normal 
90. Social scientists measure happiness simply by asking people how happy they are 
91. Most people say they are fairly happy 
92. After the loss of a spouse it can take several years to regain the previous level of well-being. 
93. Psychologists have found it useful to distinguish between a hedonic and a eudemonic state. A hedonic state is a transitory state of pleasure, while a eudemonic state is one associated with ongoing wellbeing 
94. Barbara Fredrickson from the University of Michigan claims that positive emotions have a grand purpose in evolution. Positive emotional mind sets widen our range of thoughts and actions, fostering play, exploration and creativity. We become open to new ideas and new experiences. 
95. Religion has a positive effect on wellbeing 
96. 60% of our life satisfaction relates to either our genetic predisposition or our life circumstances. Beyond that, he feels it is clear that we can change our happiness levels widely – up or down 
97. Happiness extended as much as 3 degrees of separation 
98. The united kingdom is the 10th happiest country in the world 
99. Happiness is so important to us, both as individuals and as a world, primarily because happiness is really all there is 
100. War, political instability, totalitarian governments, and economic chaos pull happiness ratings down within countries