“Happiness depends upon ourselves.” Aristotle

Positive Psychology is a school of psychology which centers on helping us to be happier. This is in contrast to most other schools of psychology which focus on mental illness and bringing people to a functional state of mental health. In other words, historically most of the work of psychology has been on helping us survive, while Positive Psychology teaches us to thrive.

In Positive Psychology researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky’s book The How of Happiness she wrote that there is a breakdown for the sources of happiness:  40% is in our self control, 50% is a predetermined genetic set point and 10% is determined by circumstances.

It may feel counterintuitive to realize that only 10% of our life circumstances determine our degree of happiness. Of course, because of this belief, many of us seek to change our life circumstances in order to become happier.

My favorite Positive Psychology book The Beethoven Factor:  The New Positive Psychology of Hardiness, Happiness, Healing and Hope was penned by the late Dr. Paul Pearsall. In his book Dr. Pearsall explored why Beethoven after losing his hearing wrote “Ode to Joy”. What caused him to thrive after such a devastating loss so seemingly germane to his happiness?

Dr. Pearsall suggests that we can develop a talent for thriving and offers a six pronged model for reacting to life challenges. Many of us will recall the classic Man’s Search for Meaning by Dr. Viktor Frankl in which he describes his unlikely survival as a prisoner during the Holocaust. Because Dr. Frankl was able to find meaning in his experience, his was able to fortify himself against impending death in a number of ways. Perhaps in some way a skill that Dr. Pearsall writes of “creative compartmentalizing” (which a friend and I were appreciating just yesterday) was something that Dr. Frankl employed as well.

Dr. Martin Seligman, in his book Authentic Happiness:  Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment offers the idea that if you know what your key (or top 5) coping strengths are, that you can engage these to make yourself happier. The Signature Strengths test can be also taken for free by following this link:  http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Default.aspx

To illustrate outcomes, my results for the test were:

Appreciation of beauty and excellence

Gratitude

Spirituality, sense of purpose, and faith

Industry, diligence and perseverance

Kindness and generosity

My awareness that these are my strengths in a more tangible way than before I took the test has reminded me to utilize these strengths in a deliberate way in times of stress and strife.

To be happy is a worthy pursuit. In fact, Aristotle said “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” The study of Positive Psychology  can help us live our purpose.

© 2010 Jeanine Marie Austin, Ph.D., C.Ht.

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