Can true happiness be attained and sustained?

The folks as anxietycentre.com believe it can. However, we believe that certain factors need to be present before lasting happiness can be maintained.

Before we describe these factors, we need to build a foundation on which these factors are constructed. To do so, we’re going to begin by defining the word “happiness.”

The Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “happiness” as: a state of well-being and contentment; joy, a pleasurable or satisfying experience.

To arrive at the conclusion that something IS satisfying and pleasurable, you need to BELIEVE that what you are experiencing IS pleasurable. This means that the pleasure you are deriving is TRUE for you. Believing something is true requires that your thoughts about an experience be in agreement with your beliefs about it.

For example, if you believe that in order for you to be happy, you need to be in a committed and loving relationship, any status other than a committed and loving relationship would mean that you would be unhappy. However, if you believe that you can be happy without being in a committed and loving relationship, you could find happiness whether you were in a committed and loving relationship, or not.

The pleasure we derive from life, is largely based on how we think about life, and whether our reality lines up with our beliefs about it.

If you think you are having a pleasurable and satisfying experience, based on your beliefs about what is satisfying and pleasurable, you will have a satisfying and pleasurable life experience. If, however, you think you are having an unpleasant and unsatisfying experience, based on your beliefs about what is unpleasant and unsatisfying, you will have an unpleasant and unsatisfying life experience.

Therefore, happiness is a state of mind. It’s based on how you think about yourself and the world around you.

The Webster’s Dictionary defines the term “state of mind” as: A temporary psychological state, the state of a person's cognitive processes.

Cognitive processing is thinking: our thought-life, self-talk, or self-dialogue. It’s how we think about and assimilate information.

Our perception is developed through the conversations we have with our self.  The beliefs we then have about life are constructed from this self-talk, as we experience life.

Based on the process of thinking and belief development, our life experience is determined by our perception of it. How you think about yourself and the world around you will, for the most part, determine the quality of life experience you’ll have. Healthy thinking produces enjoyable living. Unhealthy thinking can produce the opposite. The saying, “You are what you think,” illustrates this.

So, the first step in achieving and maintaining true happiness is realizing that:

• Happiness is a state of mind,
• Your perception of life (how you think and feel about it) will determine the quality of life experience you’ll have, and
• Your perception is based on the beliefs you’ve constructed about life.

These concepts may seem simplistic, but they are important foundational principles when seeking true happiness, and especially in consideration of stress and anxiety (which we will be talking about somewhat down the road).

Next week, we’re going to talk about the foundational principle "Beliefs", and how they are constructed. Following that, we will describe the factors associated with attaining and sustaining true happiness.

For more information about anxiety symptoms, see our Anxiety Symptoms section.

NOTE: The Member's area of our website contains a more comprehensive section on anxiety symptoms, including completed descriptions, why they occur, and tips on how to get rid of them.