The Quest For HappinessMartin E. P. Seligman, author of the book, Authentic Happiness, has said that we all have a "set point" for happiness, just as we do for weight. He felt that although people can improve or hinder their well-being, they aren't likely to take long leaps in either direction from their set points.
On the contrary, scientists who continue to probe the limits of neuroplasticity, are finding that mind sculpting can occur even without input from the outside world. The brain can change as a result of the thoughts we think!
It was a fairly modest experiment, as these things go, with volunteers trooping into the lab at Harvard Medical School to learn and practice a little five-finger piano exercise. Neuroscientist Alvaro Pascual-Leone instructed the members of one group to play as fluidly as they could, trying to keep to the metronome's 60 beats per minute. Every day for five days, the volunteers practiced for two hours. Then they took a test.
At the end of each day's practice session, they sat beneath a coil of wire that sent a brief magnetic pulse into the motor cortex of their brain, located in a strip running from the crown of the head toward each ear. The so-called transcranial- magnetic-stimulation (TMS) test allows scientists to infer the function of neurons just beneath the coil. In the piano players, the TMS mapped how much of the motor cortex controlled the finger movements needed for the piano exercise. What the scientists found was that after a week of practice, the stretch of motor cortex devoted to these finger movements took over surrounding areas like dandelions on a suburban lawn. The finding was in line with a growing number of discoveries at the time showing that greater use of a particular muscle causes the brain to devote more cortical real estate to it.
But Pascual-Leone did not stop there.
He extended the experiment by having another group of volunteers merely think about practicing the piano exercise. They played the simple piece of music in their head, holding their hands still while imagining how they would move their fingers. Then they too sat beneath the TMS coil. When the scientists compared the TMS data on the two groups--those who actually tickled the ivories (piano keys) and those who only imagined doing so--they glimpsed a revolutionary idea about the brain: the ability of mere thought to alter the physical structure and function of our gray matter.For what the TMS revealed was that the region of motor cortex that controls the piano-playing fingers also expanded in the brains of volunteers who imagined playing the music--just as it had in those who actually played it. Rewiring article.
Wow. Now this has important implications for health: something as seemingly insubstantial as a thought can affect the very stuff of the brain, altering neuronal connections in a way that can treat mental
illness or, perhaps, lead to a greater capacity for empathy and compassion. It may even dial up the supposedly immovable Happiness Set Point.
In other words, we all write and can rewrite the narratives of our lives. We have the ability to rewire our beautiful machines called the brain. We are in charge. To think of all thoughts as sacred is our goal; to give our brain the right formula, the code, to unlock the gate of our eternal gold; happiness.
David Lykken, a behavioral geneticist and Emeritus Professor at the University of Minnesota, wants people to know that happiness is genetically influenced but it is not fixed. He sees the set point of subjective well-being-a term he uses interchangeably with happiness---as a lake upon which each of us sails our own personal boat. While the standard water level may be determined by genetics, it will rise and fall depending on what's going on in a person's life, always returning to baseline in a fairly short while whether he or she wins the lottery or loses the house to a hurricane.
It just doesn't occur to people to change internally in order to be happy, he says. Instead, they spend their lives searching for an external solution: the constant pursuit of more money, a bigger house, a more luxurious car, a new antidepressant, a new nose, a flatter stomach, and soon, according to recent news headlines, a whole new made-to-order face. And still, happiness seems to lie just out of reach.
If people really want to overcome their "genes" (which they likely blame) and build a happy life, Lykken says, the best thing to do is find something useful and enjoyable to do with their time. "I'd suggest people just sit down now and take an honest, careful inventory of ways they do things that interfere with their happiness," says Lykken. "Then make up their mind that they're going to stop making troughs in their happiness lake and start making waves."
Training the brain to adopt different thinking circuits takes time, dedication, persistence, patience, love, and faith in yourSelf (at the very least). And we already know to:
* Think of our family/friends as mutual missions (respect, LOVE, forgiveness; accept life's lessons)
* Think of our job as our calling (be who we are, do what we love)
* Engage in tasks that are consistent with our values (if it doesn't feel right, it's probably not)
* Take our skills and abilities to the next level (don't settle)
* Make time for some style of Meditation (sitting, walking, painting, reading, yoga)
* And of course, take proper care of the carriage for our souls; our body
So let us not live our lives naively, in denial, disillusioned, and easily manipulated. Let us be clear headed and strong in our quest for joy without blaming others for our circumstances. May we choose not to dwell on our past mistakes and missed opportunities or to resent those who may have transgressed against us. Our aim is not to live in the past at all, but to accept it for what it was and to be free. NOW.
Howard Cutler, author of The Art of Happiness suggests that when negative thoughts or emotions do arise one can directly examine, analyze, and challenge these thoughts, actively neutralizing and replacing them with rational, alternative ways of thinking. For example, when depressed, one might spontaneously have a thought such as, "I'm worthless," but when this thought arises one can actively challenge that thought by objectively listing one's strengths and accomplishments. And to shift an everyday bad mood, we must make a deliberate effort to "count our blessings", to remind ourselves of all the things we have and all the people we love; who love us.
Know that the more challenges and thoughts we master while utilizing our personal strengths, the more the lucid we will become and the feeling of Joy will permeate our lives. Let us remember that the happiest people in the world are not those who have perfect lives, but the people who have learned to enjoy things that are less than perfect. Burnt toast, an unexpected cat, thunderstorms on wedding days, striking out again, flat tires, love handles, withering roses, idle/spastic/backward thoughts, All Other People, LIFE. Accept your experience. Go with it. Just BE...happily!
Any more tips? Feel free to comment:)
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