Why Do We Feel Happiness?

Although many for us strive for happiness in our daily lives to think of it as only a goal is I feel missing the true power of this very important emotion.

In order to understand what I mean by this let me suggest a short exercise. For a moment think of a place that you would like to visit that you have never experienced before. Now imagine yourself in this place. As you do this notice how you begin to feel inside.

If this is truly a desirable destination for you then you are most likely feeling more happy as you see yourself there. Although one may take the feelings of happiness that emerge as one does such an exercise for granted they do in fact have a purpose in being there. Can you think of what that purpose might be?

Well after some reflection I think you will appreciate that the feelings of happiness, that you experienced as a result of this exercise, were trying to "communicate" to you that this was "good for you" or "right for you". In other words there is an intelligence inside you that is commenting, at every moment, about the choices you are making for yourself.

Now most of us are in the habit of consulting our minds about the usefulness of our choices. In other words we expend a great deal of energy trying to "figure out" what is good for us and what is not. Often such an analysis excludes a consideration of feelings of happiness altogether as such feelings are ironically considered unreliable and therefore not to be trusted.

Such an intellectual exercise not only takes effort but one is also often left with a lingering sense of uncertainty about the final choice. The feeling of happiness on the other hand emerges clearly and spontaneously without one having to do any work other than just imagining what one wants for one's self.

You might have also noticed that the feeling itself was most intensely felt somewhere other than in the mind or brain. Most feel it most powerfully in the region of the heart.

So what I am suggesting here is that we have an inner intelligence that we can listen to to guide us on our journey to a more happy life. That inner intelligence communicates to you in the language of happy feelings.

Nick Arrizza M.D. is an Energy Psychiatrist, Researcher, Speaker, Developer of the powerful Mind Resonance Process(TM) and Author of "Esteem for the Self: A Manual for Personal Transformation" (available in e-book format at http://www.telecoaching4u.com/ebook.htm). He holds International Telecoaching and Teleconference Sessions on healing Mind, Body and Spirit.

MORE RESOURCES:

LAPD Chief William Bratton honored by gay website - Los Angeles Times

Happiness in hockey - Morgan Hill Times

One Simple Step to Obtain Health, Happiness, and Longevity in 2009 - PR Newswire (press release)

The big contracts, and a Derek Lowe update (or lack thereof) - Ken Davidoff's baseball insider

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/3i-0fd=Rurl=http://blogs.trb.com/sports/baseball/blog/2009/01/the_big_contracts_and_a_derek.htmlcid=1286845527ei=Q7JjSf-UNZqO9QTK542VBAusg=AFQjCNHKdP02t3glcl2aFK-lPKuNmsF7QQimg src=http://nt0.ggpht.com/news?imgefp=dHVta1Htt0cJimgurl=blogs.trb.com/sports/baseball/blog/mikeyh.jpg width=63 height=80 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Ken Davidoff#39;s baseball insider/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/3-0fd=Rurl=http://blogs.trb.com/sports/baseball/blog/2009/01/the_big_contracts_and_a_derek.htmlcid=1286845527ei=Q7JjSf-UNZqO9QTK542VBAusg=AFQjCNHKdP02t3glcl2aFK-lPKuNmsF7QQThe big contracts, and a Derek Lowe update (or lack thereof)/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fKen Davidoff's baseball insider,nbsp;NYnbsp;-/font nobr5 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1In honor of the recently arrived new year, let#39;s use two measures of evaluation for these players: Health, and bHappiness/b. quot;Healthquot; will cover actual health, b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

To find happiness, turn losses into wins - MSNBC

Happiness flows through social networks - The Post-Standard - Syracuse.com

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/5i-0fd=Rurl=http://www.syracuse.com/today/index.ssf/2009/01/happiness_flows_through_social.htmlcid=1287222093ei=Q7JjSf-UNZqO9QTK542VBAusg=AFQjCNGPqgjwmQ3lR219YWSO_zwC3-y4DAimg src=http://nt1.ggpht.com/news?imgefp=OVNLEkKLHkAJimgurl=blog.syracuse.com/today/2009/01/medium_090105_smiley.jpg width=80 height=73 alt= border=1brfont size=-2The Post-Standard - Syracuse.com/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/5-0fd=Rurl=http://www.syracuse.com/today/index.ssf/2009/01/happiness_flows_through_social.htmlcid=1287222093ei=Q7JjSf-UNZqO9QTK542VBAusg=AFQjCNGPqgjwmQ3lR219YWSO_zwC3-y4DAbHappiness/b flows through social networks/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fThe Post-Standard - Syracuse.com,nbsp;NYnbsp;-/font nobrJan 5, 2009/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Research published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) followed over 4000 people for 20 years and determined that bhappiness/b spreads through social networks b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/5-1fd=Rurl=http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/jan/04/smiles-all-around/cid=1287222093ei=Q7JjSf-UNZqO9QTK542VBAusg=AFQjCNGhiamvo7trjcYGpe42PRTkLDXnewNew study shows one person#39;s bhappiness/b is spread to others/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrVentura County Star/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1287222093hl=ennobrall 3 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Low-cost alternative brings happiness - Traverse City Record Eagle

Start Monkeying Around With This Week#39;s Comics - io9

Road to Happiness Has No Itinerary - New York Times

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-0fd=Rurl=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/business/30flier.html%3Fref%3Dtravelcid=1285603985ei=Q7JjSf-UNZqO9QTK542VBAusg=AFQjCNEn63hF83HkimK_VnDOyJuXUkxqagRoad to bHappiness/b Has No Itinerary/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fNew York Times,nbsp;United Statesnbsp;-/font nobrDec 30, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Since my first bhappiness/b research trip about 15 years ago, I decided that planning takes away from spontaneity. And besides, trip itineraries are bound to b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-1fd=Rurl=http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/12/impossible-to-get-to-one-termi.htmlcid=1285603985ei=Q7JjSf-UNZqO9QTK542VBAusg=AFQjCNEdEJht6rwjivLygDvPkhf7Z9J47wquot;Impossible to get to one terminal to anotherquot; at D/FW? Since when?/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrDallas Morning News/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1285603985hl=ennobrall 3 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Keys to happiness - Alton Telegraph

Happiness - Google News

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