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This video is about the meaning of happiness throughout the years that when you grow older, research says that you become happier. With teenagers being all caught up in social media and social status, this can affect their mental health with thinking low of themselves and this can lead into depression or anxiety. The older we get the more we tend to be happy and be grateful for the stuff that we have. This video is very interesting to watch and listen to, I recommend watching some of the video but you don´t have to watch all of it.

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Intergenerational Friendships: The Key to Happiness at any Age  | Anjali Bindra Patel | TEDxBend

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Throughout ¨The Great Gatsby¨ there are many ups and downs with happiness and how someone can obtain happiness. Gatsby was an optimist throughout the whole book which helped with his strive to reach his goal, which was to be with Daisy. But sometimes all goals can´t be reached because something is in the way that you can´t control. In Gatsby´s case, the uncontrollable cause was Tom and how he has been married to Daisy before Gatsby could confess his love again because he was in the war. Gatsby's happiness and grit to get what he wanted and more was very impressive considering he thought that he could change his life with marrying Daisy and having her divorce Tom. In his mind it was easy, but in real life it was not because adversity got in the way of his success to get Daisy. I think that this book specifically demonstrates that even if you strive your hardest and try your best, you will still experience failure of some sort in the end. This is displayed with Gatsby considering that he was so close to getting Daisy, but then George Wilson shot him and then instantly passed away. Gatsby never got another chance to try and change who he was after his rejection from Daisy because of his consequences of trying to go above and beyond everyone else.

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With following up with more questions to ask my family members, I asked these:
4. What made you happy when you were younger?
5. What color do you think of when you think of the word happy? Why?

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Just with asking a couple of questions in this quiz, it can show you how happy you are or can strive to be

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QUIZ FACTS The Happiness Skills Quiz measures your "happiness skills" or habits. Based on your answers, you receive a brief report with guidance on how to improve your score. 76% of quiz takers who practice one of the 7 habits of happy people report feeling happier.

Don't wait, find out now!

Test Our Free Happiness Skills Android App

MORE QUIZ FACTS

This Happiness Skills Quiz is based on hundreds of scientific studies.

Pursuit-of-Happiness.org is a nonprofit organization. Our mission is to support your well-being and the scientific work behind that support. We will NOT distribute your information to a third party.

We are deeply grateful to the thousands of quiz takers who have encouraged us with a few kind words or suggestions.

About the quiz: We call this the "Happiness Skills Quiz," instead of a depression or anxiety test, because you can take it to measure concrete life skills related to your happiness, and especially to learn how you can become happier. This quiz, which is based on hundreds of recent scientific studies, focuses on lifestyles and habits that strongly relate to long-term happiness or Psychological Well-Being.

About the science behind the quiz: Our psychological well-being is affected by three main factors, including our genetic make up, our environment, as well as our thoughts and actions or "life skills." The Happiness Skills Quiz is a psychology quiz inspired by recent discoveries in Positive Psychology and the so-called Science of Happiness, which provide new insight on how to build resilience to depression, and in many cases, how to fight and relieve depression and anxiety naturally. For more information on this exciting new field, please visit our pages on the Science of Happiness or take our course on the " Habits of Happy People: A Practical Guide."

About the Pursuit of Happiness: Pursuit-of-Happiness.org is a volunteer-driven organization dedicated to providing science-based information on wellbeing and depression prevention. Recent scientific evidence shows that specific life skills, such as building close relationships, regular exercise, and reducing screen time, prevent depression and maintain wellbeing throughout the lifespan. Thanks to the heartfelt dedication of our volunteers and donors, about 5 million visitors, including faculty and students from 1,500 secondary schools, 2,500 universities, and representatives of more than 200 governmental organizations from around the globe, have accessed our educational resources, including lesson plans and web pages on the science of happiness and well-being.

YOUR PRIVACY

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How Happy are you? Take the Happiness Quiz

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QUIZ FACTS The Happiness Skills Quiz measures your "happiness skills" or habits. Based on your answers, you receive a brief report with guidance on how to improve your score. 76% of quiz takers who practice one of the 7 habits of happy people report feeling happier.

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I interviewed my family with asking them these questions:
1. What makes you happy in one word?
2. What makes you happy?
3. In 20 years what can you see making you happy?

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In this online article, there were many interesting ideas that were stated with what makes someone happy. Certain traits or the environment that we grow up in affects someones happiness throughout their life. Depending on where or how someone grew up, affects on how they act and how happy they can be. On the picture on the article says that 50% of happiness comes from our genes, 40% comes from ourselves and only 10% comes from our circumstances. I found this interesting because of how much of our genes affects our happiness and our everyday lives. I think that this is interesting that ourselves are influenced only by 40% with our decisions or things that we want in order for us to be happy.

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According to current popular ideas about the science of happiness, 10% of the variance in happiness in a given population is due to life circumstances (age, nationality, sex, race/ ethnicity, and income); 50% is due to genetics; and 40% remains under our direct control. These numbers have been repeated in countless journal articles and books, and discussed as fact in college courses around the world.

Be skeptical.

These perfectly round numbers raise more questions than answers, and as of today, I still don't trust them.

When you are given a graph that is this clean, it seems reasonable to be skeptical. For instance, where do we fit in information showing that for certain people, exposure to environmental factors such as toxins or nutriments can switch genes on or off? This is a point that my colleagues and I discussed in prior work:

Although traits may be substantially influenced by genetic factors, individuals select, utilize, and adapt to their environments, affecting gene expression. Behavior geneticists distinguish between gene- environment transactions and gene-environment interactions.

In most cases, the interface between genetics and environment consists of transactions necessary for growth, reproduction, or development. An example of a transaction in the case of character strengths might be the necessity of extensive social experiences to enable the full development of the genetic disposition for social intelligence or leadership.

The term gene-environment interaction refers to a specific process in which the same stimulus affects individuals with differing genes in different ways. Research has revealed several examples of gene-environment interactions that match the diathesis- stress model of psychopathology (e.g., adolescent conduct disorder; Cadoret, Yates, Troughton, Woodworth, & Stewart, 1995). Future investigations may uncover a diathesis-nutriment interaction for character strengths like creativity, in which those with a genetic predisposition respond to enriched, stimulating environments with augmented creativity, whereas those without the predisposition respond less robustly.

Future research should endeavor to delineate how the interplay of genes and environments creates character strengths. In addition, future research might attempt to investigate the presence of non-additive effects. Such effects are difficult to detect unless the samples are extremely large.

What about research showing that as we get older, the genetic influence on our thoughts, feeling, and behavior changes? Consider these meta-analytic findings on various forms of intellect and cognitive functioning, from 12,721 sibling pairs; and on personality, from 21,057 sibling pairs (this is not a sample of 100 college students!):

In early life, shared environmental effects are the major stabilizing force for cognition. Over the first decade of life, the proportional contribution of genetic effects increases from approximately 10% to approximately 70%, and largely remains at that level for the remainder of the lifespan. The proportional contribution of the nonshared environmental effect gradually increases from nearly 0% to about 20% by late life.

In sharp contrast, genetic effects explain nearly 100% of the stability of personality in early life, but this proportion is slowly shaved away as the nonshared environmental contribution increases across the lifespan. By late adulthood, just over 50% of the stability of personality is attributable to genetic factors, with the remaining proportion attributable to nonshared environmental factors. Whereas genetically linked processes guide the stabilization of cognition, unique life experiences guide the stabilization of personality across the lifespan.

When I read this work, I am confused as to how scientists arrive at a single number to account for the genetic contribution to happiness. Genetic influences are often interwoven with environmental factors- check out this killer study of how genomic expression in West African infants depends on whether they are born in the rainy or dry season-and they change depending on when you study someone on the timeline, from toddler to elder. Instead of taking a single equation as fact, ask questions about exactly where the numbers came from: How many studies? What was the quality of those studies? Challenge authority with questions, such as: Why should we expect the numbers to be similar across time in the same person, much less different people from different cultures?

Let me end with tips on how to critically think about behavioral genetics, from one of the leading thinkers in this field, Eric Turkheimer. He arrived at three laws of behavioral genetics-and as of last week, a 4th law has been added. Keep these laws in mind anytime someone tries to sell you on the importance of genetics.

Remember, these are not theories, they are laws:

1. All human behavioral traits are heritable. [That is, they are affected to some degree by genetic variation.]

What this means is that if you read about the god gene, the divorce gene, or research suggesting that the length and expression of a single gene explains your preference for The Spin Doctors, think again: Everything has a genetic contribution, so we should never get excited about the discovery of what is obvious. Complex human behavior is unlikely to be governed by a single gene. If one gene is too valuable, humans become too vulnerable. (See Law #4.)
2. The effect of being raised in the same family is smaller than the effect of genes. 3. A substantial portion of the variation in complex human behavioral traits is not accounted for by the effects of genes or families.
Much of what influences our personality has to do with the presence of life events, both positive and negative, and our response to choice points: Do I approach or avoid my co-worker who regularly demeans me? Do I wake up early and work out or sleep in? Do I ask out the girl I've had a crush on for months or do I keep my feelings to myself? No single decision matters, but the patterns do. The decisions we make, the people we surround ourselves with, and the behaviors we engage in are the building blocks for the quality of our lives. Small changes accumulate over time leading to large changes in who we become.
4. A typical human behavioral trait is associated with very many genetic variants, each of which accounts for a very small percentage of the behavioral variability.
Instead of a single "divorce gene," it makes more sense to consider a series of temperamental qualities that influence the probability of divorce, including self-control, impulsivity, behavioral inhibition, distractibility, adaptability, persistence, and mood. For instance, low self-control, high impulsivity, low behavioral inhibition, high distractibility, low adaptability, low persistence, and highly frequent and enduring bad moods is a suboptimal profile for a long, healthy romantic relationship. Each of these qualities has a strong genetic basis; together, they help explain why there is a genetic contribution to whether or not someone gets divorced.

Knowing the origin of what matters most to human beings is invaluable. Behavioral genetics is part of this origin story. Let's take a moment to understand what a genetic contribution means and be skeptical of overly simplistic ideas about what humans do in the wild.

For those interested in a gruesome movie that illustrates the third law of behavioral genetics, watch 13 Sins on Netflix.
Dr. Todd B. Kashdan is a public speaker, psychologist, and professor of psychology and senior scientist at the Center for the Advancement of Well-Being at George Mason University. His new book, The upside of your dark side: Why being your whole self - not just your "good" self - drives success and fulfillment is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Booksamillion, Powell's or Indie Bound. If you're interested in speaking engagements or workshops, go to: toddkashdan.com

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Every month, there is a major news article about the gene for god, divorce, or riding a motorcycle without a helmet. There are popular books touting a so-called fact that only 40% of happiness is due to genetics. But what does this mean? What is wrong about these statements?

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How do you consider yourself a happy person?

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How do you consider yourself a happy person?

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The last question in my survey that I considered one of the most important was, ¨Do you consider yourself a happy person?¨. About 80% of the 75 people said that they were and about 20% of them said that they were´t. What characteristics that one has is considered with being a happy person?

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Survey question: What color do you think of when you think of the word ¨happy¨?

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Survey question: What color do you think of when you think of the word ¨happy¨?

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I recently did a survey asking multiple questions and one of them asked, ¨What color do you think of when you think of the word ´happy´?¨ and about 67% of the 75 responses said yellow. But why yellow?

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On this website, there were the meanings of yellow and they were very interesting as to why yellow is a happy color. The article says, ¨
Yellow is the most luminous of all the colors of the spectrum. It’s the color that captures our attention more than any other color¨. The color yellow is a very bright and considered a happy color in most cultures. Yellow is the opposite of darker colors almost with it being bright such as in the sun or a smiley face color. The article also states that ¨
In almost every culture yellow represents sunshine, happiness, and warmth.¨ Yellow is also a very noticeable color which can be easier to see in caution signs on the street or inside of a place.

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Curious Yellow
Have you noticed that yellow is often missing in action in the colorful offerings of kitchen appliances and electronic devices? Asi

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Survey question: How many times a week do you consider yourself to be happy?

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Survey question: How many times a week do you consider yourself to be happy?

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In the same survey I also asked the question, ¨How many times a week do you consider yourself to be happy?¨ and about 45% said 6-7 times a week and about 37% said 4-5 times a week. What is considered being happy?

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Many people consider themselves happy, but what actually makes one truly happy? Many people say that their relationship with their family or their friends fall around what makes them happy. A section in this article is titled ¨Connect with Yourself¨ and it was really understanding yourself and what makes you truly happy.
Happiness is also a choice so you can either fake it until you make it or actually be happy with being positive! Also with parts of being happy, sometimes you just have to relax and have a good time, because before you know it that moment or memory will be gone.

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Many of us have been believing in a lie. We've bought into the myth that happiness is something we achieve when everything in our life finally looks the way we've been thinking it should. Cue the relationship, ring, job, country house, wardrobe, vacations, beauty products, weight loss. But here's the challenge: These things alone don't create lasting happiness, so happiness becomes this elusive thing that we desire but don't know how to achieve.

We can choose happiness in this moment.

The truth is that happiness is not circumstantial. And this is really good news. It means we don't have to wait for everything to be perfect, nor do we have to control anything outside of ourselves in order to feel a certain way. Becoming aware of this truth is a total game-changer, because it means we can choose happiness in this moment. And something beautiful happens when we do this: When we feel happy first, our outward experience begins to shift in ways we'd only dreamed of.

In this article, I'll discuss how people can reset their attitude toward happiness and share three tips for cultivating happiness from the inside, out.

Searching for Happiness in all the Wrong Places

It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that we will be happy as soon as everything in our lives is exactly the way we want it to be-and that the solution to happiness is that we must keep working harder to control these external situations in order to make them "right." But when we make things happen (lose the weight, get the relationship, get the raise) in a condition in which we are needing them to fill us up, validate us, or make us feel whole and complete, these changes won't be sustainable. We might even realize these outward things don't make us happy after all.

In reality, self-love is the baseline of happiness. When we live from a pure space of self-love, we are able to achieve sustainable happiness, because our internal feelings of abundance will reflect back to us in the form of beautiful relationships, purpose-driven work, and financial freedom. In short, self-love puts us on the fast track to healing. Our work is to clear out our fearful perceptions and shift them back to a loving perspective on life, which reveals our perfection and wholeness.

We don't need to be fixed and nothing is wrong with us -these are just the stories we've been telling ourselves. When we let go of our limiting beliefs, we can finally experience freedom, happiness, and our highest potential.

Learning to Feel Happy Within

Here, I share three practical ways to cultivate more happiness within and create a life beyond your wildest dreams.

1. Connect With Yourself

Slow down and get quiet enough to listen to your inner guide (a.k.a your intuition or your truth), and spend less time listening to other people's opinions or the loud, critical voice inside your own mind (which often manifests as racing thoughts or 3a.m. panic). One of the best practices for cultivating the ability to hear your inner guiding system is meditation. If finding the time to sit quietly is not realistic at the moment, an even simpler life-changing practice is to make daily mundane activities-such as brushing our teeth or standing in line at the grocery store-a time for quiet reflection. In these moments, ask for guidance and listen for some clear answers.

When we flex our spiritual muscle and connect with ourselves, it gives us access to an inner abundance of wisdom and knowledge (you'll recognize it as a quiet, calm knowing voice). This inner source of wisdom will always guide us to our best right actions.

2. Set an Intention to Be Happy

Despite what we may have been taught, happiness is as simple as just choosing to be happy. When we truly realize this-that happiness is a choice -we instantly empower ourselves in any situation, whether it's a relationship, job, or pattern of thinking that's been creating judgments, worry, doubt, fear, or confusion. The moment we choose to perceive things differently by choosing a loving perception of ourselves, others, and our circumstances, we not only strengthen our capacity to feel happy-we also open ourselves up to limitless possibilities where there once was seemingly no solution. A creative flow reveals itself, and we're able to experience more ease and less struggle sometimes instantly.

This is a lifelong practice, because when we're not monitoring our thoughts, they have a tendency of veering back into fear and worry. One of the simplest and most profound ways we can align with loving perceptions each day is to practice setting an intention every morning when we wake up. This intention can be very simple: Just say to yourself, I choose happiness -and feel it.

3. Surrender

Most of us don't know what "surrender" means. It's the opposite of the way many of us operate, which is by attempting to control outcomes and situations and to make things happen. In contrast, surrender occurs when we release our need to control things, and instead choose to place a higher level of trust and faith in the process of life.

When we tap into this relaxed energy, we allow that which we desire to flow to us in a miraculous way. The job, relationship, or whatever we are envisioning and desiring for our lives is all on its way-and when we surrender our plans for the timeline and the form in which we think it should arrive, we allow an even bigger and better outcome to take place. When we are not fearfully boxing ourselves in, we are able to fearlessly say YES to limitless opportunities for joy to enter our lives.

Being Happy-The Takeaway

By connecting with ourselves, setting intentions to be happy, and surrendering to the natural flow of life, we can breathe a sigh of relief, trusting and knowing that everything is unfolding in perfect, divine timing-and the only work we need to do is to get out of our own way and let life happen. Because happiness is our birthright.
Jennifer Kass is a holistic happiness coach and spiritual mentor. She is a writer and speaker and works in her one-on-one coaching programs. The views expressed herein are hers and hers alone. To learn more about Jennifer, visit www.jenniferlkass.com. Originally posted May 2013. Updated March 2014.

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Many of us have been believing in a lie. We've bought into the myth that happiness is something we achieve when everything in our life finally looks the way we've been thinking it should. Cue the relationship, ring, job, country house, wardrobe, vacations, beauty products, weight loss.