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Is Happiness Normal?
First, a big thanks to Iolanda for bringing this article to my attention.
Second, what are your thoughts on the question in the title to this posting?
You can read the full article by clicking on the following link (click here) but the main message is that unhappiness and negative thoughts are normal parts of life and trying to fight them may not be the best strategy. Instead, it is argued that we should all accept negative emotions for what they are, experiences we will always have along side positive emotions, and view them simply as reactions that do not necessarily define us.
My opinion - there’s a time and place for everything! I agree that “fighting” negativity can sometimes exacerbate the problem but I also know that if we want to we can actively reduce the frequency and intensity of negative thoughts and negative emotions and as a result…be much happier.
Your thoughts?
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on Friday, February 10th, 2006 at 10:56 am and is filed under Happy Tips.
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February 11th, 2006 at 1:18 pm
doc happy - this is the type of question that would be great to discuss in a “Happiness Club”!! I’d personally love to talk to others about it … talking in a group you can generate a lot more ideas than you can on your own or even in a forum
personally i don’t think that constant happiness is normal, just as constant unhappiness isn’t normal. but then i don’t have any specific knowledge on the topic ……..
i can totally understand the “new” way of thinking the article promotes because from my brief reading of it it seems to be what I do, and my thinking has been praised by psychologists at different pain clinics around Sydney, and also others I’ve spoken to over the years.
But my way of “thinking” has changed over the years too. Initially for a few years after diagnosis I was into positive thinking (glass half full etc) but over the years, in the longer term (now it’s been about 8 years since the diagnoses) it’s been more ACT. The “Acceptance and commitment therapy” mentioned in the article says that it tries to “defuse the power of thoughts”. This is probably how you describe what happens to me (i think - but if we were in a group talking then we could go into more depth about the topic etc!). Too long to go into here but it’s been a natural progression, and one that nobody has ever found anything wrong with. And in fact I only saw someone last year to see if my “flasbacks” (of certain things from years ago) where anything bad or in my control. I’m happy to say that they couldn’t see anything wrong with what I was thinking or how I was reacting etc.
Anyway, this would be something great to discuss in a physical meeting of like-minded people in a “Happy club” !!!
February 11th, 2006 at 4:01 pm
I was just sitting down after my walk doing nothing but just letting my mind wander and i realised i made a mistake in something i said in the message above….. when i said……..
“personally i don’t think that constant happiness is normal, just as constant unhappiness isn’t normal.”
it’s is possible to be constantly unhappy and a lot of people are, so for a great majority they don’t know any differently. but there are very very few people who are constantly happy.
so i “said” something while I was typing that was wrong, and if I had of said it verbally i would have realised it was wrong while i was saying it ……. but typing it out often takes away some of your reasoning ability …..
ANOTHER reason to have a “Happiness Club”
March 4th, 2006 at 11:59 am
hi , i’m getting on a bit now so maybe i can relate ” some” positives.years ago i had severe anxiety and panic attacks and don’t to anywhere near as bad anymore so regardless of anything else,anyone suffering these problems can see that i am living proof that they are surmountable(is that a word?)i also developed depression (the real one but not suicidal)i sought help and ended up in a group therapy situation where i learned to challenge irrational thinking that was a great help as soon as i started applying it but also improving my life in all areas as best as i could also helped.anyway i have always been interested in belonging to a group of people who are interested in this subject with the view to mutual support bkind regards DEKKA
March 20th, 2006 at 8:49 am
Hi my name is Soraya,
I got sick last year & eventhough I feels heaps better now, I have just started sufferring from anxiety & panic attacks. One question for DEKKA, which support group did you attend for anxiety? Do you know if there are any based in Sydney?
Regards,
Soraya
August 7th, 2007 at 9:41 am
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