Happiness is an important aspect that plays a vital role in people’s lives. Individuals’ approaches to pursuing happiness vary from one person to another. Some essential benefits of happiness include reduced stress, boosted immune system, a healthy lifestyle, and the maintenance of healthy relationships. However, I know individuals who are happy in one way and not in others. For instance, people who are highly satisfied with their quality of life because of their adequate financial resources but they do not enjoy life due to stress and frustrations caused by their professional lives. These people can use different ways to increase their happiness in positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction, guaranteeing happiness across the three types of subjective well-being.
Engaging in hobbies and enjoyable exercises, remembering positive experiences, and indulging in life pleasures can help such individuals enhance their positive affect aspects of subjective well-being. Spending considerable time on hobbies can drift an individual’s mind from what might be stressful. Participating in exciting physical activities such as dancing is a powerful tool for boosting positive emotions and managing stress (Lindsay et al., 2018). New and regular pleasurable life experiences minimize the chances of becoming bored in life, enhancing positive affect. Active memory of constructive encounters in life can also prolong their happiness.
Effective management of unpleasant emotions can ensure such individuals have infrequent negative affect in life. Some negative emotions that reduce happiness include anger, fear, anxiety, and frustration. According to Lindsay et al. (2018), practicing gratitude and mindfulness, being optimistic, and engaging in physical exercises can help manage negative emotions. For instance, mindfulness helps individuals reframe what they are feeling. Physical exercises can help manage anger and stress by boosting positive emotions.
The approaches that such people can use to increase life satisfaction may include the practice of self-acceptance and self-compassion, being optimistic and cultivating hope, nurturing quality social relationships, and expressing gratitude. Bingöl and Batık (2018) indicate that self-acceptance and self-compassion help people to be realistic about their positive and negative characteristics and how to improve the latter, boosting their overall well-being. Optimism and hope allow people to combat negative occurrences that can lower life satisfaction. A deliberate expression of gratitude can focus an individual’s attention on positive ways of life and behaviors. Healthy and quality social relationships are essential for overall well-being.
References
Bingöl, T., & Batık, M. (2018). Unconditional Self-Acceptance and Perfectionistic Cognitions as Predictors of Psychological Well-Being. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 7(1), 67-75. Web.
Lindsay, E., Chin, B., Greco, C., Young, S., Brown, K., Wright, A., Smyth, J., Burkett, D., & Creswell, J.D. (2018). How mindfulness training promotes positive emotions: Dismantling acceptance skills training in two randomized controlled trials. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 115(6), 944-973. Web.