Happiness

Wandering mind not a happy mind

Published: November 12, 2010

People spend 46.9 percent of their waking hours thinking about something other than what they’re doing, and this mind-wandering typically makes them unhappy. So says a study that used an iPhone Web app to gather 250,000 data points on subjects’ thoughts, feelings, and actions as they went about their lives.
The research, by psychologists Matthew A. Killingsworth and Daniel T. Gilbert of Harvard University, is described this week in the journal Science.

“A human mind is a wandering mind, and a wandering mind is an unhappy mind,” Killingsworth and Gilbert write. “The ability to think about what is not happening is a cognitive achievement that comes at an emotional cost.” [continue reading…]

Enjoy the moment

Published: October 31, 2010

A walk in Kirby - Lonsdale

I love this poem, I thought about it today after reading a tweet by @DrJonathan

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?—

No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

I learned the poem Leisure by Newport poet W.H.Davies, in elementary school. My biggest challenge  then, was the dread of being the one who would be singled out to recite the poem in front of the class.

They were just words to be memorized, then pretty meaningless to a 10 year old.

So long ago- but guess what?Today as I remember the words, the childhood fear is gone  and  I  can reflect on the wisdom and meaning. So  breathe , take your time , savor the moment

Image  Credit: Kathy James , I took this  photo  while walking in Kirby Lonsdale, I think it works well with the poem 😉

Choices and behaviors influence long term happiness

Published: October 5, 2010

family and sunsetChoices and behaviors influence long term happiness, despite individual genetic and personality traits, a study finds. Bruce Headey (Melbourne University), Ruud Muffels (Tilburg University) and Gert Wagner (DIW and Technical University Berlin) analyzed data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Survey, a series of yearly interviews of adult and youth household members from 1984-2008. [continue reading…]

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