Levels of happiness and subjective well-being

¶ … Path that Can Make You Happy

There are many people who are not happy in their life because they are binded to something that they do not really want. For instance, it is a common thing to know someone who is not happy in his job despite of the fact that it is in line with the kind of profession or study that he took during his school years. However, for some reasons like low salary or unagreeable company management, the person is unhappy with his job. Or, it is also common to know someone who is unhappy with what he does because he was just forced or was influenced by others (i.e. An unhappy student because his parents forced him to take a course he doesn't like).

I believe that one's level of happiness and satisfaction can be increased if he has the freedom to do whatever he likes as long as he is not violating any law or any morality law so to speak, as well as if everything that one wants to do is right. One's life should be lived in ways that can make him happy and not in ways that the others may want to. One should be able to control his life and not let other influences or forces control it for him. Researches and studies show that being able to control one's own life and having the responsibility to stand, reach, and fulfill one's own dreams generates happiness and satisfaction in living. The same fulfillment in life happens when a person achieved his goals after taking the path that he wants. As indicated by Alina Ruigrok, in her article How to Live a Happy and Satisfied Life,

The only way you can live a happy and satisfied life, is when you start doing things that make you happy and satisfied.

Discover who you really are and what matters most to you.

Never expect too much

Most of the time, people get disappointed on things because they expect too much. The tendency is that expectations make us assume that the things we want will happen. Hence, when such expectations are not met, we easily feel sad and frustrated because our expectations have already set our mind that we will get what we have expected but yet we didn't get it. The worse part is that such disappointments sometimes lead to loss of hope or loss of fighting spirit.

Never expecting too much is another strategy in life that can increase one's level of happiness and satisfaction. If there are things in the future that we are looking forward to but we don't know yet what it is, never assume or set your mind on too much positive outcome to prevent disappointments should the result turns out to be negative. One rule is to set your mind accept whatever outcome we get, either positive or negative. In this way, if we get good and positive results, our level of happiness and satisfaction will certainly rise. However, if the outcome turns out to be a negative one and our mind is already set to accepting anything, there is a greater chance that our level of happiness and satisfaction, although it may not increase, will retain as how they are.

Researches and studies reveal that acceptance is among the ways that releases disappointments in life.

Contentment

Among the factors that greatly affect our level of happiness and satisfaction in life is contentment. Some believe that being contented on what you have reduces the feeling of unhappiness and dissatisfaction. However, this should not insinuate to "just be contented." Of course, the value of striving for a better life should not be lost. What the strategy of contentment implies is to "accept what you" have but never loose hope of striving for a happier life. Almost similar to the value of never expecting too much, contentment is a technique of preventing disappointment and dissatisfaction in life.

Discontentment is in fact in the family of dissatisfaction. When one is not contented in his life, it is always relative that he is also unsatisfied. Hence, it is important that to be able to be happy and satisfied in life, one should learn the virtue of contentment. According to an online source,

Genuine happiness is a state of contentment - a peace of mind - a sense of well being regardless of outward circumstances going on in your life. The main ingredient to anyone's happiness is contentment.

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