The Pleasant Path: A Better Journey

By Juana Cantador

The Forty Percent

Is it possible to become happier? Believe it or not, the answer is yesand the great news is that we have forty percent control over our happiness. If we think of our lives as a pie chart in which our circumstances represent ten percent, and our set pointour genetically determined predisposition for happiness or unhappinessrepresents fifty percent, that leaves us with forty percent of intentional activity. What makes up that forty percent? Our behavior does. Besides our genes and the situations we encounter, the way we choose to think and behave is the one critical thing left. We can see that the key to happiness lies in our daily intentional activitiesnot in changing our genetic makeup or life circumstances. All of us could be happier if we scrutinize what precise behaviors and thoughts happy people naturally and habitually engage in.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 12, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490862712

Juana Cantador

Juana Cantador holds a BA and a PhD in psychology. She is a board certified PhD in positive psychology, as well as a certified life coach.   Originally from Madrid, Spain, Juana briefly attended journalism school and afterwards worked in the corporate arena for companies like Coca-Cola and Iberia Airlines, and at the pharmaceutical company, Merck. In 1995, Juana moved to the United States, where she has lived for nearly 20 years. She had the privilege to return to college in the United States to pursue her true longtime passion for psychology.   Since obtaining her degrees, Juana has been putting her knowledge obtained from the universities she attended for her psychology courses to work.   Juana has a passion for life and believes that there is always plenty of room for improvement in how we journey through our paths. She is already working on her second book. The author’s life coaching web site is: www.happierpositivepsychologycoaching.com.

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Copyright © 2014 Juana Cantador.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-6272-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-6273-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-6271-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014921847

WestBow Press rev. date: 12/05/2014

CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Can We Control How Happy We Are?

Chapter 2: Happy People Function Better

Chapter 3: The Myths of Happiness

Chapter 4: Building from Past Wisdom

Chapter 5: Our Beliefs

Conclusion

References

CHAPTER 1

Can We Control How Happy We Are?

The 40 Percent

Is it possible to become happier? Well, believe it or not, the answer is yes, and the great news is that we have 40 percent control over our happiness. If we think of our lives as a pie chart in which our circumstances represent a 10 percent piece and our set point—our genetically determined predisposition for happiness or unhappiness that is given to us by our parents—represents a 50 percent piece of the pie, that leaves us with a 40 percent piece of intentional activity. What makes that 40 percent? Our behavior does. Besides our genes and the situations we confront, which are beyond our control, the way we think and behave is up to us. That being said, we can see that the key to happiness lies not in changing our genetic makeup or life circumstances but in our daily intentional activities—in our choices. It means that all of us could be a great deal happier if we carefully scrutinized what precise behaviors and thoughts very happy people naturally, and habitually, engage in.

Repeatedly, researchers have observed the thinking and the behavior patterns of the happiest participants in their studies. They found that their happiest participants devote a great amount of time to their families and friends, nurturing and enjoying those relationships. These people are comfortable expressing gratitude for all they have, are often the first to offer helping hands to coworkers and passersby, and practice optimism when imagining their futures. They tend to make physical exercise a weekly or even a daily habit. They also savor life’s pleasures and try to live in the present moment while also being committed to lifelong goals and ambitions.

It is important to notice that even the happiest people have their own share of stresses, crises, and tragedies. They may become just as distressed and emotional in such circumstances as anybody else, but their secret weapon is the poise and strength they show in coping in the face of challenges. The positivity inside of them allows for that.

Becoming lastingly happier means we need to make some permanent changes that will require effort and commitment every day of our lives. Pursuing happiness takes work, but this may be the most rewarding work we will ever do.

Why should we be happy? Well, scientific evidence reveals many compelling reasons to aspire for greater happiness and fulfillment. It turns out that happiness brings with it multiple fringe benefits. Studies have shown that when compared with their less happy peers, happier people are more sociable and energetic, more charitable and cooperative, and better liked by others. Not surprisingly, happier people are more likely to get married and to stay married. They also have richer networks of friends and social supports. They show more flexibility and ingenuity in their thinking and are more productive in their jobs. They are better leaders and negotiators, and they earn more money. It is important to mention that in the face of hardship, they are more resilient, have stronger immune systems, and are physically healthier. Happier people live longer.

However, there are three major myths about happiness that we tend to fall for. The first one is that happiness must be found, the second is that genetics will determine one’s happiness, and the third is that happiness depends on life circumstances. The truth, as research has proven, is that 40 percent of our happiness is determined just by intentional activity. Happiness is not out there for us to find because it is inside us. It is a state of mind, a way of perceiving and approaching ourselves and the world in which we reside. Therefore, if we want to be happy today, tomorrow, and for the rest of our lives, we can do it by choosing to change and manage our states of mind in our current circumstances.

Many of us, especially those of us who may not be very happy, believe that our unhappiness is genetic and that there is not much we can do about it. That is simply not true. Growing research demonstrates that we can overcome our genetic programming. As significant as our major life events are to each of us, studies suggest that they actually determine a tiny percentage of our happiness. As mentioned before, many past investigations reveal that all life circumstances and situations put together account for only about 10 percent of how happy different people are. This leaves us with a question: What about genetics? Do genes predestine us to be happy or unhappy?

Empirical data from different studies has led me to the conclusion that the genetic basis for happiness is strong. It appears that each of us is born with a happiness set point: a characteristic potential for happiness throughout our lives. Whether it comes from the maternal or paternal sides of our families, the essential point is that even if major life changes push our happiness levels up or down, we tend to revert to this genetically predetermined set point. Evidence for this phenomenon comes from studies that follow people over time as they react to good and bad things happening in their lives. However, because our happiness set point is fixed, it does not mean that our happiness levels cannot be changed. In fact, we can rise above our happiness set points just as we can rise above our set points for weight and cholesterol. Thus, we can positively conclude that our genes do not determine our life experiences and behaviors.

In The How of Happiness, Sonja Lyubomirsky says that our hard wiring can be dramatically influenced by our experiences and our behaviors, and there is a great deal of room to improve our happiness by the things we do—our intentional activities. There is a powerful study that shows just what a dramatic effect one’s particular environmental factor can have on whether or not people who have a depression gene actually succumb to depression; that environmental factor is severe stress. Caspi, Moffit, and their colleagues at Kings College in London were interested in the relationship between stress and depression. Why do stressful life experiences trigger depression in some people but not in others?

They found that depression is associated with a particular gene, one called the 5-HTTLPR, which comes in two forms, the long allele and the short allele. The short one is undesirable to have because it rids the brain of a substance needed to fend off depressive symptoms. The critical finding in the study, however, was that stressful experiences led to depression only among those participants who carried the bad short allele of the 5-HTTLPR gene. Interestingly, the same result was found for stress suffered in childhood. Those participants who were maltreated between ages three and eleven were more likely to become depressed at age twenty-six—but only if they carried the ill-fated short allele.

In view of this, it seems that our genes play as important a role in depression as they do in happiness, but the key is whether they are expressed, namely, turned on or turned off. The findings of this study, performed in New Zealand, suggest that the short allele