Een min of meer gelukkig en zinvol leven leiden - Thema

Elementen en vaardigheden voor een zinvol leven en een gelukkige omgeving

Conditions for personal happiness and contentment

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What are the conditions and elements for happy and meaningful travel, studies, jobs and life choices?

  • Happiness elements are those elements (conditions, values) that lead to a satisfied life, a satisfied group or a satisfied society.
  • These are elements that play a role in the degree of satisfaction you could have as a person or as a group of people (organization, family).
  • These elements have been in literature since ancient times. They are regarded as crucial and determining elements in the context of happiness and contentment.

What are the twelve elements for sustainable happiness and contentment?

It all adds up in feeling:

Countries: how to see happiness from the eyes of another country and continent

Countries: how to see happiness from the eyes of another country and continent

A bundle of contributions of WordSupporters about global happiness and the personal perspective per country and region

Happiness quotes and statements from around the world - Theme
Happiness quotes & statements gathered by contentment - The Netherlands

Happiness quotes & statements gathered by contentment - The Netherlands

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Quotes & statements from Holland by contention (the twelve elements of contentment) - The Netherlands

Self-awareness & Self-insight

  • what you say, is what you are.

Independency & Steadfastness

  • Sometimes I'm so independent I forget to listen to myself.
  • By 'Loesje' (a Dutch Quote community)

Limitlessness & Freedom

  • “Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.”
  • “I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.”
  • “I've found that there is always some beauty left -- in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can all help you.”
  • By 'Anne Frank' written during wartime while hiding.

Usefulness & Meaning

  • “No one has ever become poor by giving.”
  • By 'Anne Frank'

Experience & Feeling alive

  • Did you find a coin? It will bring you luck - The Netherlands.

Helpfulness & Attentiveness

  • Vragen staat vrij. It means it is your freedom to ask, you can always ask. The other person can always say no. When you want to help people, it is also best to ask, do they want help? What kind of help? Everything starts with a question. So many things can be done with a good heart, but the effect is gone, when your help doesnt fit.

Engagement & Sense of surroundings

  • Blow away the seeds of a dandelion in one breath. You may make a wish

Goal Orientation & Sense of perspective

  • Did you hit the goalpost at football? You will win the next match

Balance & Stability

  • Doe maar normaal, dan doe je al gek genoeg: Act normal, that is already crazy enough.

Result awareness & Positivity

  • Are we going Dutch? Everyone pays for themselves. It might not seem positive, but it connects with the Dutch believe in equality. In a way it is straightforward and clear, you pay what you order, so no need to be worried about your expenses. PS only when you divide the bill and the other person has ordered more expensive drinks or food. Just remember what you ordered and give it to the person who will pay. We have a thing called Tikkie or a possibility on any bank app to send a whatsapp message with a link so people can pay back easily. To me as a dutch person, it is positive and it is going towards your own results: saving money, if that is what you are after. 

Connectivity & Contacts

  • Wat gij niet wilt dat u geschiedt, doe dat ook een ander niet. ' Het rijmpje' komt uit de Lutherbijbel van 1545. It means don't do to others what you don't want to be done towards yourself. The rhyme (in dutch) is from the Lutherbible of 1545.

Attention & Focus

  • Did you step in dog poo? It will bring you luck.
Quotes & statements from around Africa by country and contention (the twelve elements of contentment) - Africa

Quotes & statements from around Africa by country and contention (the twelve elements of contentment) - Africa

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Quotes & statements from around Africa by country and contention (the twelve elements of contentment)

Self-awareness & Self-insight

  • We are what our thinking makes us: Nigeria.
  • Knowledge without wisdom is like water in the sand: Guinea.
  • Those who are happy at home should remain at home.

Independency & Steadfastness

  • Examine what is said, not him who speaks: Egypt.

Limitlessness & Freedom

  • Happiness often sneaks through your door when you left the door open.
  • Dance even if the hump on your back does not allow you.

Usefulness & Meaning

  • Ubuntu: I am a person through other people. (Zulu)
    • Desmond Tutu said: “One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu, the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can’t exist as a human being in isolation. We believe that a person is a person through other persons.. It is a form of humanism which can be expressed
    • "I am, like because of who we all are." Ubuntu signifies emphatically that: “The life of another person is at least as valuable as one’s own,” and that “Respect for the dignity of every person is integral to this concept.”
    • Source

Experience & Feeling alive

  • Those who are absent are always wrong: Congo.

Helpfulness & Attentiveness

  • Happiness is not perfected until it is shared.

Engagement & Sense of surroundings

  • Happiness is like a perfume, you cannot pour it all on others without allowing a few drops to fall on yourself.
  • The chameleon changes color to match the earth; the earth doesn’t change colors to match the chameleon: Senegal.

Goal Orientation & Sense of perspective

  • The big game often appears when the hunter has given up the hunt for the day.
  • The chameleon looks in all directions before moving: Uganda.
  • Anxious about the shoe, but careless about the foot.

Balance & Stability

  • If you are building a house and a nail breaks, do you stop building, or do you change the nail?
  • Who swims never sinks.

Result awareness & Positivity

  • There are no shortcuts to the top of the palm tree: Cameroon.

Connectivity & Contacts

  • Lonely is one: Masai.
  • Alone in counsel, alone in sorrow.

Attention & Focus

  • Coffee and love taste best when hot: Ethiopia.
  • He who learns teaches: Ethiopia.
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SELECTED

The Happiness Bundle

The Happiness Bundle

Content and contributions about happiness,  the science of happiness, contentment and meaningful life

The science of happiness and the secrets of a meaningful life - Theme
What are the 13 conditions for balance and fulfillment in study, work and private life

What are the 13 conditions for balance and fulfillment in study, work and private life

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What are the 13 preconditions for balance and fulfillment in study, work and private life

  1. Help yourself by helping others
  2. Create perspective by opening new doors
  3. Don't give up but care about something
  4. Use your empathic skills
  5. Stay with yourself and leave that herd behind you
  6. Focus on your journey and not your destination
  7. Actively deal with your negative emotions
  8. Appreciate and celebrate your small successes
  9. Let others walk their own path
  10. Establish and maintain social contacts
  11. Feel unlimited and not limited
  12. Discover your qualities, take advantage of your opportunities and avoid cliffs
  13. Seek fulfillment in study, work, travel and the world around you

Signed en researched by

  • The JoHo WorldSupporter team

 

Happiness: contributions of WorldSupporters about a happy and meaningful life

Happiness: contributions of WorldSupporters about a happy and meaningful life

Content and contributions for happiness, contentment and meaningful life

Daily advice for well being? Check out the podcast 'The Science of Happiness'

Daily advice for well being? Check out the podcast 'The Science of Happiness'

stars in the night

If you're looking for some practical tools on how to improve your well being, your happiness, this podcast will suit you! It's developed by the Greater Good Science Center, part of Berkeley University. Every episode a guest is invited who has tried one of the 60 (!) tools. Also at the end there is some information about the scientific evidence and context of that specific practice. Check it out at any of your Podcast platforms or visit https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/podcasts

Don't worry, be happy!
In my life I've learned that true happiness comes from giving. Helping others along the way makes you evaluate who you are. I think that love is what we're all searching for. I haven't come across anyone who didn't become a better person through love.

In my life I've learned that true happiness comes from giving. Helping others along the way makes you evaluate who you are. I think that love is what we're all searching for. I haven't come across anyone who didn't become a better person through love.

In my life I've learned that true happiness comes from giving. Helping others along the way makes you evaluate who you are. I think that love is what we're all searching for. I haven't come across anyone who didn't become a better person through love.

Deze quote van Marla Gibbs is naar mijn mening het beeld van een Wereldsupporter. 
 

The Happiness Advantage

The Happiness Advantage

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Who are the happiest people in the world?

When I was living in the Philippines, to me the filipinos were the happiest. And I have traveled a lot. The filipinos themselves, also said to me, multiple times, different people, they were the happiest. Time for me to dive more into the topic Happiness. 

My good friend Rebie Ramoso, who to me is an example who always thinks about others and helps others, using her own skills (design and creativity, she is an artist). She advised me to read this book, instead I watched the TED-talk by Shawn Achor. 

The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor

Very inspiring short and fast talk about Happiness by Shawn Achor. A topic to study more. 

Scan the positive not the negative, exercise and train your brain. Happiness and Succes, and creating a revolution. Let's start now.

what makes you happy?
Persoonlijke waarden, vaardigheden, kwaliteiten en emoties ontdekken en verbeteren- Thema
The science of happiness and the secrets of a meaningful life - Theme
Crossroad: region

SPOTLIGHT

 

The Positivity Bundle: content and contributions about optimism ..and a half full glass

The Positivity Bundle: content and contributions about optimism ..and a half full glass

Content and contributions for positivity, optimism and happy feelings

A review of the causes and consequences of optimism (summary)

A review of the causes and consequences of optimism (summary)

Seeing the glass half full: A review of the causes and consequences of optimism

Forgeard, M., & Seligman, M. (2012). Seeing the glass half full: A review of the causes and consequences of optimism. Pratiques Psychologiques, 18(2), 107-120.

The psychological trait of optimism influences how individuals perceive themselves and their environment, how they process incoming information, as well as how they decide to act based on this information. Pessimists often behave in ways that are geared towards worst-case scenarios, while optimists tend to trust that the future will be favourable. According to past research, optimism and pessimism appear to have a particularly important effect on how individuals deal with challenging and stressful events. Even so, many people dismiss the effect of optimism, calling optimists naïve or in denial. This is because pessimism and its realistic view of the world seem appealing and rational when contrasted with the popular notion that optimism equates with foolishness, naiveté or denial; however, research shows that the way in which psychologists think of optimism does not involve forced enthusiasm or denial of the truth

What is Optimism?

Anthropologist Lionel Tiger defines optimism as “a mood or attitude associated with an expectation about the social or material future – one which the evaluator regards as socially desirable, to his [or her] advantage, or for his [or her] pleasure”. This means that optimism is a cognitive, affective and motivational construct - optimists both think and feel positively about the future.

The two ways in which researchers have operationalized optimism are the optimistic explanatory style approach, and the dispositional optimism approach

Optimistic Explanatory Style

This approach, developed by Seligman et al., is inspired by the observation that most (but not all) animals and humans give up when exposed to uncontrollable stressors and remain helpless when the situation becomes controllable. This behaviour is otherwise known as "learned helplessness." Helpless is associated with a pessimistic explanatory style; pessimists believe that negatives events are always present ("things will never change in the future"), have a global effect ("this negative event has ruined my entire life"), and is the fault of their own. Pessimists also often do not take credit for good events, attributing their occurrence to luck. Additionally, they perceive positive events as short-lived (“I just performed well today but who knows what will happen tomorrow”), and only affect one aspect of their lives (“I may be good at this but I’m otherwise pretty stupid”).

The optimistic explanatory style is therefore the opposite. Optimists do acknowledge negative events, but see them as specific (“other things are still going well”) and unstable (“things will get better soon”). They think negative events in a constructive, non-fatalistic manner and trust in their ability to deal with stressful problems.

The main instruments used to assess optimistic explanatory style are the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) and Content Analysis of Verbatim Explanations (CAVE), which ask people (through open-ended questions that are eventually coded) how events are caused. In both methods, the extent to which people think

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Seeing the glass half full: A review of the causes and consequences of optimism - Forgeard & Seligman - Article

Seeing the glass half full: A review of the causes and consequences of optimism - Forgeard & Seligman - Article

What is this article about?

Optimism as a psychological trait has gained an increasing amount of interest from scientists during the past couple of decades. Various studies have shown that optimism is related to important benefits. In this study, a review is presented that summarizes the findings from this body of research.

What are the two main ways in which researchers have defined and operationalized optimism?

Optimism is a psychological trait that influences individuals perceive themselves and their environment, how they process incoming information, and how they decide to act based on that information. Optimism concerns a cognitive, affective, and motivational aspect. Whereas optimists tend to believe that the future will be favorable, pessimists tend to believe that the future will have bad events in store for them. Both optimism and pessimism therefore act as powerful cognitive filters that alter an individuals' perception of the world and influence how the individual reacts and adapts to new situations, in particular challenging and stressful events.

In psychology, a distinction can be made between two main conceptions of optimism as described in the literature: optimistic explanatory style and dispositional optimism.

Optimistic explanatory style

The conceptualization of optimism as an exploratory style was developed by Seligman and colleagues (1991). This conceptualization was inspired by the finding that most humans (and animals) give up and become helpless when they are exposed to uncontrollable stressors. After this, they act helpless even when stressors are controllable again. This phenomenon is called learned helplessness. Individuals who display learned helplessness tend to have a pessimistic explanatory style. They believe negative events are stable and have far reaching consequences ("My life is ruined now"). Often, they blame themselves for the negative events ("It is my fault"). In addition, they commonly do not take credit for positive events ("I was just lucky"). 

Opposite to the pessimistic style is the optimistic explanatory style. This is referred to individuals who never become helpless. They believe negative events are unstable ("Things will go better soon") and specific ("Perhaps this is going less well, but other things are still going well"). Optimists, according to this perspective, acknowledge the presence of bad events, but they consider them in a constructive, non-fatalistic manner.

Dispositional optimism

The second perspective is developed by Schreier and Carver (2009). Here, optimism is based on an expectancy-value model of goal pursuit, which states

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Optimism in close relationships: How seeing things in a positive light makes them so - Srivastava, McGonigal, Richards, Butler, Gross (2006) - Article

Optimism in close relationships: How seeing things in a positive light makes them so - Srivastava, McGonigal, Richards, Butler, Gross (2006) - Article

What is this article about?

The central question in this article is whether optimists and their romantic partners are more satisfied in their relationships and - if this is the case - this is due to optimists who experience greater support from their partners. It appears that couples in conflict conversations are more constructive when they are more optimistic and they solve their problems better. Optimism seems to promote a variety of beneficial processes in romantic relationships.

What are the most important concepts in this chapter?

The most important concepts in this chapter are optimism, relationship satisfaction, perceived support and close relationships.

About the effect of optimism in close relationships

What is this article about?

The central question in this article is whether optimists and their romantic partners are more satisfied in their relationships and - if this is the case - this is due to optimists who experience greater support from their partners. It appears that couples in conflict conversations are more constructive when they are more optimistic and they solve their problems better. Optimism seems to promote a variety of beneficial processes in romantic relationships.

What are the most important concepts in this chapter?

The most important concepts in this chapter are optimism, relationship satisfaction, perceived support and close relationships.

What forms social perceptions?

Social perception arises in the spirit of the person who perceives it. This can be a fact that has very real consequences for his social life. This is especially true for romantic relationships.

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The science of happiness and the secrets of a meaningful life - Theme
Article summary of Very happy people by Diener & Seligman. (1)

Article summary of Very happy people by Diener & Seligman. (1)

What is this article about?

This is a research report of an experiment where 222 undergraduates were screened for high happiness. The upper 10% of consistently very happy people were compared with average people and very unhappy people. This study has tried to find out what some factor might be that influence high happiness: social relationships, personality and psychopathology, and variables that have been related to subjective well-being in correlational studies. It also examined whether there was a variable that was sufficient for happiness and a variable that was necessary for happiness (sufficient: everyone with the variable is happy, necessary: every happy person has the variable).

What were the results?

On a scale from 5 to 35, the very happy group scored about 30 on life satisfaction. The very happy people had virtually never thought about suicide, could recall many more good events in their lives than bad ones, and had many more positive than negative emotions on a daily basis. The very unhappy people were dissatisfied with life and had equal amounts of positive and negative affect on a daily basis. They reported this about themselves, but their friends and family also rated them dissatisfied. The average group was in the middle of these two groups. 

The biggest difference between the very happy group and the average and very unhappy group, was in their fulsome and satisfying interpersonal lives. The very happy people spent the least time alone and the most time socializing and valued their relationships the highest. Good social relationships might be a necessary condition for high happiness.

The very happy people also scored the lowest on psychopathology tests, virtually never in the clinical range. Almost half of the very unhappy group scored in the clinical range. 

Also good to note, was that the verry happy people never reported their mood to be "ecstatic", but they did score their mood with a 7, 8 or 9 most of the time.

Broader samples and longitudinal methods are needed to make strong conclusions from these results. These findings do suggest that very happy people have rich and satisfying social relationships and spend little time alone. But it is not yet clear what the causal relationship is here: perhaps happy people have better relationships because of their happiness, or happiness and good relationships are both caused by a third variable. What is clear is that social relationships might be a necessary but are not a sufficient condition for high happiness. Very happy people also experience unpleasant emotions and rarely feel euphoria or ecstacy. They are rather medium to moderatly happy most of the time.

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Article summary with Very happy people by Diener & Seligman (2)

Article summary with Very happy people by Diener & Seligman (2)

What is this article about?

This is a research report of an experiment where 222 undergraduates were screened for high happiness. The upper 10% of consistently very happy people were compared with average people and very unhappy people. This study has tried to find out what some factor might be that influence high happiness: social relationships, personality and psychopathology, and variables that have been related to subjective well-being in correlational studies. It also examined whether there was a variable that was sufficient for happiness and a variable that was necessary for happiness (sufficient: everyone with the variable is happy, necessary: every happy person has the variable).

What were the results?

On a scale from 5 to 35, the very happy group scored about 30 on life satisfaction. The very happy people had virtually never thought about suicide, could recall many more good events in their lives than bad ones, and had many more positive than negative emotions on a daily basis. The very unhappy people were dissatisfied with life and had equal amounts of positive and negative affect on a daily basis. They reported this about themselves, but their friends and family also rated them dissatisfied. The average group was in the middle of these two groups.

The biggest difference between the very happy group and the average and very unhappy group, was in their fulsome and satisfying interpersonal lives. The very happy people spent the least time alone and the most time socializing and valued their relationships the highest. Good social relationships might be a necessary condition for high happiness.

The very happy people also scored the lowest on psychopathology tests, virtually never in the clinical range. Almost half of the very unhappy group scored in the clinical range.

Also good to note, was that the verry happy people never reported their mood to be "ecstatic", but they did score their mood with a 7, 8 or 9 most of the time.

Broader samples and longitudinal methods are needed to make strong conclusions from these results. These findings do suggest that very happy people have rich and satisfying social relationships and spend little time alone. But it is not yet clear what the causal relationship is here: perhaps happy people have better relationships because of their happiness, or happiness and good relationships are both caused by a third variable. What is clear is that social relationships might be a necessary but are not a sufficient condition for high happiness. Very happy people also experience unpleasant emotions and rarely feel euphoria or ecstacy. They are rather medium to moderatly happy most of the time.

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Some key differences between a happy life and a meaningful life - Baumeister e.a. - Article

Some key differences between a happy life and a meaningful life - Baumeister e.a. - Article

What is this article about?

Two of the most widely held goals by which people measure and motivate themselves are happiness and a meaningful life. In this article, the relationship between these two goals is discussed. More specifically, although there certainly is (much) overlap between these two, the focus here is on the differences.

How can happiness be defined?

Happiness generally refers to a state of subjective well-being. Happiness be may narrowly or broadly focused: one can be happy to have found a lost key, but one can also be happy that the war has ended. Happiness is conceptualized and measured by researcher in at least two different manners. The first one concerns affect balance, which suggests that happiness is an aggregate of how one feels at different moment. Happiness is then defined as having more pleasant than unpleasant emotional states. The second one concerns life satisfaction, which goes beyond momentary feelings. It refers to an integrative, evaluative assessment of one's entire life. Generally, assessing both of these provides a useful index of subjective well-being.

How can a meaningful life be defined?

Meaningfulness is considered to concern both a cognitive and emotional assessment of whether one's life has purpose and value.

What is the central theorem of the theory that is being proposed in this article?

The authors suggest that the simpler form of happiness (affect balance instead of life satisfaction), at least, is rooted in nature. Every living creature has biological needs, such as wanting to survive and reproduce. Basic motivations make one to pursue and enjoy those needs. Affect balance then depends to a certain degree on whether these basic needs are being satisfied.

While happiness is natural, meaningfulness may depend on culture. In every culture language is being used as a means to use and communicate meanings. Meaningfulness, thus, makes use of culturally transmitted symbols (via language) as a means to evaluate one's life in relation to purposes, values, and other meanings that are also frequently learned from the culture. Thus, meaning is more associated with one's culture than happiness is. An important feature of meaning is that it is not limited to immediately present stimuli (as happiness is). Instead, meaningfulness refers to thoughts about past, future, and spatially

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Themes: main theme pages for happiness and meaningful life

Themes: main theme pages for happiness and meaningful life

Theme pages for happiness and meaningful life

Happiness quotes and statements from around the world - Theme
The science of happiness and the secrets of a meaningful life - Theme
Recipes from around the world and checking local eating habits - Theme

Recipes from around the world and checking local eating habits - Theme

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 Recipes from all over the World: From sustainable recipes to local food habits

Table of contents

  • Recipes  and cooking tips from Africa or with a African twist
  • Recipes  and cooking tips from Asia or with an Asian twist
  • Recipes  and cooking tips from Europe or with a local twist
  • Recipes  and cooking tips from Latin America or
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Books around the World and World Literature - Theme
Sustainable live, travel and work - Theme
Tolerance and understanding another person and culture - Theme
World habits, food customs and country philosophies - Theme

World habits, food customs and country philosophies - Theme

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Habits, customs and philosophies from all around the world

Table of contents

  • What are habits and customs?
  • What are typical African habits, food customs and philosophies in Asia?
  • What are typical Asian habits, food customs and philosophies in Asia?
  • What are typical Caribbean habits, food customs and philosophies in Asia?
  • What are typical Central American habits, food
........Read more
Happiness quotes and statements from around the world - Theme
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