There’s lots of reasons to feel happy with one’s lot in life. There’s probably just as many reasons to feel unhappy about it. But when asked, most of us just want to be happy – to feel contented and satisfied.
So what is it that makes us really happy? In answering this question about our personal wellbeing, many of us might agree that being happy involves financial security, being employed, and having someone close to love and to love us in return. When I asked a relative of mine for her thoughts, she replied that happiness for her comes from being healthy, and possessing a sound mind. “All the money and material possessions in the world are useless”, she says, “if you don’t have good physical and mental health”.
My relative may well be right. Professor Robert Cummins, who is holder of a Personal Chair in Psychology at Deakin University since 1997, sets out some interesting facts in his ten-year study of the wellbeing of Australians.
“The average Australian is generally happy, …And our state of happiness has been reliably constant for the last decade”, says Professor Cummins. In measuring how happy we are, Cummins states that, “Personal satisfaction concerns our subjective view of our own health, personal relationships, achievements in life, how safe we feel, community connectedness, future security, religion/spirituality and standard of living.”
In reporting on his findings, Professor Cummins says that over a decade, respondents indicated that they felt safer, more connected to their community, and more satisfied with their personal relationships than they did previously. But, overall satisfaction with their health, failed to increase.
This may seem surprising, given that Cummins believes that happiness is a natural state for humans. According to him, “We are all genetically programmed to have normally positive levels of happiness and contentment. We all have this genetic generator of positive mood to give us our good feelings. This generator is very resilient and most of the time is able to help us bounce back when bad stuff brings us down.”
So how do we achieve satisfaction with our emotional and mental wellbeing? There’s an old saying concerning the three rules of happiness – we all need someone to love, something to do and something to look forward to. These rules seem fairly straight forward and easy to understand. Less clear though, is how we can achieve and maintain such a positive, happy frame of mind.
There’s one way that many people have found works for them in achieving a consistent feeling of mental wellbeing. It’s the result of spiritually-based thinking. Good mental health doesn’t have to be a fragile commodity. Happiness can be thought of as a spiritual quality that resides permanently in our consciousness. Because of this, it’s possible to expect to feel normal and positive about ourselves. That normalcy can be supported by a connection with the divine source of comfort and assurance.
At one period in my life, I found it hard to remain happy. Little things that went wrong could upset my applecart, and plunge me into unhappiness. When this happened, it was difficult for me to stop feeling gloomy. This changed when I began to reason, that possessing balanced thinking was native to me. It seemed entirely possible that a divine Creator had spiritually ‘programmed’ me, to be happy and stay happy. Because of this, I could actually resist depression.
This may appear to be quite a radical change of view, and I have to confess that it was for me. The good thing is, that this way of thinking spiritually about myself had a positive outcome. Instead of staying depressed, I was able to bounce back quickly. I even reached the point where little things ceased to drag me down mentally. What a relief!
When contemplating how to be happy, it’s encouraging to know that balanced thinking, contentment and satisfaction, don’t exist “out there” somewhere. Happiness doesn’t have to be found and then acquired. It’s within consciousness. We have it already.
That’s why Professor Cummins offers this advice about happiness . He says. “Stop looking for it. …If life is reasonably comfortable, without a dominating source of distress, happiness will find you.” How good to know that we can let contentment and satisfaction find us – be expressed in us. It’s the kind of knowledge that defeats despondency, and enables us to have good mental health.
I’m a professional Christian Science Practitioner and Teacher. Through my prayer-based practice, I help people find happiness, health and healing.
Pauline Rita Noorts says
When realizing it is up to my attitude to whatever is in my understanding to whatever is taking place in experience mental or material have begun to be more gentle,, kind and happy, many thanks as always to be reminded,…………………………Pauline.
Beverly Goldsmith says
Thank you Pauline for leaving your comment. Glad you are finding ways to be more happy. Sometimes we forget that contentment is within our thinking. Perhaps this is what Christ Jesus meant when he said that the Kingdom of heaven is within us – harmony, contentment, peace, happiness, are within our consciousness. Now that’s something to think about!
Yvonne says
Another helpful blog Beverley which I have passed onto an unhappy family member. I love the idea of being spiritually programmed to be happy and to stay happy. Mrs.Eddy mentions happiness many times in Science & Health one of which is on page 57 line18. Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. A lovely reminder. Thank you Beverly. Yvonne.
Beverly Goldsmith says
Thank you for your comment Yvonne. I too like the idea of being “spiritually programmed to be happy and to stay happy.” If I feel blue, I sing what I call my “happiness song”. “I am happy and I know it praise the Lord, I am happy and I know it, praise the Lord. I am happy and I know it and I know that I can show it. I am happy and I know it, praise the Lord” Hard to stay unhappy after you’ve sung that!
Keziah says
A great article Beverly on happiness and how to achieve it. As I was reading through it, it reminded me of instance when somebody asked me a thought provoking question; ‘What does being a Christian Scientist mean to you.’ My answer was ‘it meant that I never had to be afraid’. It was a very earnest answer on my part because my spiritual study gives me the confidence to know that any situation that needs healing could be dealt with throught the study of the scriptures and the book Science and Health. That gives me confidence which brings peace and security. Happiness!
Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health “The calm strong currents of true spirituality, the manifestations of which are health, purity, and self immolation, must deepen human experience . . . . . .”page 99. Once again many thanks.
Pauline Rita Noorts says
Thank you Keziah what a beautiful and true understanding of Christian Science.
Keziah says
Pauline Rita, thank you for your warm response. It is great to be able to share our experiences – it is very uplifting. Thank you Beverly for providing the platform for this sharing of mutual experiences.