The secret to happiness
A good friend sent me this article recently, stumbling across the work of a group of Harvard researchers pleasantly surprised him in an otherwise uninspiring look at the positive psychology movement. In it, Joshua Wolf Shenk gains access to one of the most comprehensive longitudinal studies in history: 72 years of research taking into account the stories of 268 men as they enter college in the late 1930s, through war, career, marriage, divorce, parenthood, grandparenthood and old age.
The study is a fascinating look at happiness, with participants replying to detailed surveys, undertaking interviews and medical examinations; their lives documented in detail provide some inspiring stories and yet there are also stories of despair even for a participant who “exemplifies the qualities of a superior personality”.
What is fascinating is not only the individual stories, but the findings of those common threads that exist between people who have lived happy, fulfilling lives. The secret? This 5-page article is worth reading.
Images by Rich Dahlgren
[What Makes Us Happy?] The Atlantic
Send an email to Danelle Jones, the author of this post, at danelle@gingerbeet.com
