Happiness is an emotional state caused by the interactions of chemicals and hormones with certain cells in specific areas of the brain. It is often characterized by feelings of pleasure, joy, and contentment. In essence, happiness is a feeling that involves positive emotions and life satisfaction. 

Many people often think of something that satisfies them as happiness, but for psychologists, the feeling is more commonly referred to as subjective well-being. This is because it tends to focus on a person's personal feelings about their life. There are 2 key components of happiness, namely:

• Emotional balance: experiencing more positive feelings than negative feelings in life.
• Life satisfaction: how satisfied a person is with their life in all aspects, such as relationships, work, finances, achievements, etc.

Happiness is something that is subjectively defined

Signs You're Happy

Happiness may not be something that can be felt constantly, but at its core, it is always indicated by more positive emotions than negative ones. While everyone's definition of happiness will vary, the feeling will be shown through similar key signs. Some of these are as follows:

• Feeling like you're living the life you've always wanted
• Feeling that the current state of life is good and being satisfied with it
• Feeling like you have achieved what you set out to do in life
• Feeling more positive emotions than negative
• Following one's own will to live life
• Having positive and healthy relationships with others
• Being able to treat oneself well
• Feeling grateful at all times

Feeling satisfied with one's current life is one of the signs of happiness.

Aspects of Happiness

Feeling happy is not all about understanding the physiological aspects of a person. There are many ways to determine it. According to an ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, happiness consists of 2 aspects, namely eudaimonia (a feeling of well-being based on function and purpose and hedonia (the act of pursuing pleasure over pain).

These two aspects define happiness through two sides, namely positive and negative goals. Eudaimonia is closely related to the desire to continue experiencing feelings of pleasure, while hedonia is closely related to the desire to eliminate pain and displeasure. You can see the difference between the two, right?

Why does it matter?

Happiness has been shown to predict positive outcomes in various areas of life, such as mental well-being, physical health, and increased life expectancy. This feeling will allow a person to build skills to deal with the problems they face and how to respond to them properly. 

In addition, happiness also increases resilience, allowing people to manage stress better and bounce back better when faced with setbacks, thus avoiding depression. Finally, happiness makes a person more likely to engage in healthy behaviors, such as adopting a balanced nutritious diet and regular physical activity.

So, happiness is an important aspect of life. Not just to feel happy at a certain time, but also for the sake of mental well-being, physical health, and being able to extend life. Although the definition will vary from person to person, these signs of subjective well-being are generally similar. Have you felt happiness according to your definition yet?
 

Let's download the Fitie application now to get tips and other interesting information!