Summary

The article "How Create Your Own Happiness" outlines five simple activities that can enhance personal happiness and well-being.

Abstract

The article discusses the concept of creating one's own happiness through five everyday activities. It emphasizes the importance of hugging, helping others, sun exposure, laughter, and exercise in boosting happiness hormones such as oxytocin, dopamine, endorphins, and serotonin. Each activity is associated with physiological and psychological benefits, including reduced stress, increased life satisfaction, and improved mood. The author, reflecting on personal experiences and scientific studies, suggests that these small "happy elements" can significantly impact one's quality of life. While advocating for these simple practices, the author also acknowledges that they are not substitutes for professional mental health care.

Opinions

The author believes that happiness can be found in simple, often overlooked activities.
Hugging is seen as a powerful way to communicate love and trust, and it has the added benefit of releasing oxytocin, which can lower blood pressure and reduce stress.
Acts of kindness are contagious and can increase the happiness of both the giver and the receiver, leading to higher levels of life satisfaction.
Sun exposure, which provides Vitamin D, is linked to the production of serotonin and can help alleviate neuropsychiatric disorders like depression.
Laughter is considered a whole-body experience that increases pain tolerance and releases endorphins and dopamine, creating a euphoric feeling.
Regular exercise, even in short durations, is recommended for its ability to increase endorphins and dopamine, contributing to a reduction in cortisol and an improved mood.
The author suggests that yoga and meditation are beneficial alternatives for those unable to engage in traditional exercise due to injury.
The article promotes the idea that small moments of happiness can be easily integrated into daily life to enhance overall well-being.
The author clarifies that these strategies are not replacements for professional psychiatric help but rather complementary practices for mental health.

How Create Your Own Happiness

And your life will be full of light…

Growing up in Ghana, there was this Pub in the community called “Create Your Own Happiness”. I always wondered why that statement? Happiness could be anything depending on who you ask.

For some, happiness means achieving their goals, or becoming wildly successful in a certain career. For others it is the accumulation of cash — FAT Bank account.

However, happiness can be a complicated element, and can be found in small, often overlooked ways. Being able to discover these small “happy elements” or pills can change your life forever.

In this article, I will propose five small happy elements or pills that can make your day a little brighter:

Hugs

Hugs are a popular form of communicating love and trust. However, they serve more than just saying, I care for you.

Hugging serves to reinforce bonds between two people through the secretion of oxytocin, which is one of the three happiness hormones, along with dopamine and endorphins.

Oxytocin also has other benefits like, lowering blood pressure, and reducing the stress hormone cortisol. If hugging is not your thing, there are other ways to boost your oxytocin levels, such as playing with your pet, or getting a massage.

Helping Others

The second way to brighten your day is to help others out. Have you ever experienced that warm, fuzzy feeling after you’ve done something nice for a person?

Helping someone out from Canva with Love

Oxytocin is not only released when you hug. It’s also released when you do something kind for someone. The great thing about it is that it’s contagious. Not only do you get a surge of oxytocin whenever you do something kind, but so does the person on the receiving end.

“Doing good to others is not a duty. It is a joy, for it increases your own health and happiness.”

— Zoroaster

A 2019 study published the results of an experiment designed to measure the correlation between acts of kindness and life satisfaction. Read the study here.

They found that participants who practiced random acts of kindness reported higher levels of life satisfaction. Acts of kindness do not need to be large. Being kind can be as simple as holding the door for someone, donating clothes, or saying thank you when you get your food order (these are really small things you can do without any stress at all).

Sun Therapy

Letting the sun in your face can make you a little happy and even give you some extra Vitamin D in your body. For those of you who enjoys the sun all year round, good for you. For those of us who have to wait for summer to enjoy the sunshine, summer is almost here, which means that sunbathing might help you feel a bit happier.

Vitamin D plays a role in the synthesis and creation of serotonin, another happiness hormone. A 2015 study concluded that an increase in vitamin D helped maintain the concentration of extra cellular fluid serotonin in the brain. This was shown to improve neuropsychiatric disorders like depression. So, get out there, just don’t forget your sunscreen.

Laughter

Have you ever been in a bad mood, but had that one silly friend make it all better? Laughing is another great way to increase your happiness. It not only involves your face, but also your whole body. The most interesting thing that happens is that your pain tolerance goes up.

This is due to a spike in endorphins, another happiness hormone, commonly released during exercise.

Laughter is miraculous in the sense that you also get a dose of dopamine whenever you laugh. Dopamine is the reward hormone. When we laugh, dopamine creates a euphoric feeling, which encourages us to laugh again and again.

Exercising

Another great way to make yourself feel happier is through exercise.

Not only does it increase your level of endorphins, but it also increases your dopamine. Both help reduce cortisol, and allow you to feel more at ease, which in turn will make you feel better. This doesn’t need to be a huge workout — something as short as a 20-minute walk can make a difference in your mood even though I like to walk for an hour. I’m not far from the West Haven beach in Connecticut, so I love taking my walk along the beach with the breeze on my face (mmm…soothing) soaking in some good sounds.

If you’re suffering from an injury, some other great options are yoga or meditation, since these two activities also increase your dopamine levels. I just discovered this YouTube channel with soothing sounds and verses from the Psalms that are so therapeutic. As a person of faith, this channel has been really helpful. Check the channel here.

My Gut Tells Me That…

Finding small moments of happiness in your life does not have to be difficult.

Even the little things can brighten your day, even if it’s just a tiny amount. Please note that none of these strategies are a replacement for psychiatric help. Reach out to a qualified mental health professional if you feel that you have a condition.

Leave a comment below letting me know what other things makes you feel happy.

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