If releasing our fellow human beings from their suffering can only be achieved by releasing ourselves from ours, it becomes clear that we need to add another layer to our "institutions of happiness".
My 12-step manifesto for a happier world calls for change not just from our leaders but from all of us. I'm not pretending these are simple changes or can happen overnight. But if we were to put these ideas into practice I'm certain we could create a society which is not only happier, but also more productive, caring, fair, responsible and sustainable.
Shouldn't university teach us to criticise simplistic or politically convenient definitions of happiness?
It dawned on me that Elisha's Things To Appreciate List is actually the path to contentment for us all. Taking the time to enjoy the small stuff, to notice and relish even the most basic of what we have and to fully savour the special times is surely the route to happiness.
We've all heard the old adage "You are what you eat" but how often do we really stop and think about what we are fueling our body with? It is so easy to grab the nearest snack, and fill up on junk to fill our hunger without really being conscious of what effect that food is having on our body.
To young artists first picking up their pencils and paintbrushes, the idea of creating can seem so daunting. For every ounce of enthusiasm you carry, there creeps a shadow of uncertainty - and with so many masters before you, gazing down from hallowed museum walls, you may be tempted to not bother, to quit before you start!
We'd been together for nearly eight years at this point and although neither of us ever talked about marriage or was that interested in it, it was becoming expected of us. My sudden turn into the academic arena was unexpected by 99.9% of the people we knew.
If you're feeling run down, under pressure or just want to boost your sense of wellbeing, here are my top tips...
Want to add years to your lifespan and squeeze more into your life? You're not alone. Researchers are constantly on the hunt for ways we can increase our longevity, and they have come up with some pretty surprising findings. To help pave the way for a longer life, check out these seven unexpected things that increase your lifespan.
Envy is not jealousy. The latter normally involves affairs of the heart, and specifically relates to what one has. In contrast to jealousy, envy is resentment generated by what others have, accompanied often by a feeling of ill will toward those who have it.
Many people experience feelings of sadness, depression and lethargy once the winter months kick in, often due to the change in weather, the shorter days and long periods of being cooped up indoors. If the winter blues are starting to set in, check out these 10 ways to boost your happiness this winter.
We have lost respect for our fellow human beings. We don't respect their personal space, their feelings, their boundaries, them full stop. We have become so self-obsessed we can't see as far as our own nose. We have so much yet nothing is ever enough. It all spells one word. Ingratitude.
Granted, January is a pretty gloomy month (I was shocked to see a blue sky today, having forgotten what one looked like), but why is that particular day more depressing than any other? Well, of course, it's not. Blue Monday was actually invented by a psychologist to help promote some travel company.
Tell it and open the door for anyone who needs to go. Tell it and keep telling it - even if the only ones left to hear it are you and your truth, alone, together. Speak it until you feel like the person you were always meant to be. Own it until you don't fear the consequences of it anymore.
Love isn't just something we 'fall' into and stay in permanently. We can't just expect that our intimate relationship will just tick over without us doing anything about it. Instead, love relationships are the classic case of 'effort in, reward out.'
It would be very easy to slip into depression and wallow in self pity, bringing everyone down, but I absolutely refuse to let Parkinson's get the upper hand. I find it far more worthwhile to remain cheery, which keeps me going; boosting my family's morale and all those around me.
If hear that Goyte tune I have to consciously stop myself rocking back and forth, now it's just a song that I used to love.
There are obviously some contradictory and complex factors at play - it is not simply the case that creativity is therapeutic and that art makes us happier.
At the end of a week when BP were fined $4.5 billion for the Deepwater Horizon disaster, attention should turn to avoiding the continuation of another waste of natural resources; human potential. Because every day thousands more barrels are being wasted by the promotion of a pursuit of happiness through synthetic means. Plugging this leak is a task for us all.
How to be happy is a question that can be answered, you just need to pursue it with the right map.
We will never find true happiness through GDP growth alone. To love and be loved - is what ultimately sustains us; all spiritual traditions tell us so and humanists would agree.
The Knight will come. He will. Everyone is deserving of a fairy-tale ending. Just make sure you've rescued yourself first. And when he does turn up, before you leap into his arms? Take a breath. Take a pause. Check your balance.
Maybe the masks of Halloween aren't so very different to the masks we all wear, every day, at every time of year. I do this all the time. We all do, I think.
....and only do what you love. So, what qualifies me to do this? Well I took the plunge to be self employed when I had no money or idea what I was g...
The authors of this study caution that it's still not clear from their data whether happy people just tend to find each other and cluster for that reason, and the negative likewise, or whether happiness spreads like a virus. However previous research has supported the contagion theory.
