Authentic Happiness

Authentic Happiness, Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment by Martin E. P. Seligman

👆🏻That’s a full name of a psychology book I’m reading now. I’ve never been a great fan of psychology literature but this year has changed my mind. I read a cool book «The Mountain is You» this summer and realized that there’s much food for thought in such kind of literature.

So, why this book out? Well, because this one delves into the deeper, more authentic aspects of happiness – the kind that lasts, not just fleeting moments of joy. It’s all about finding true fulfillment and contentment, not just chasing temporary highs. I’m here for it! This book is like a roadmap for cultivating lasting happiness, and I’m ready for the journey.

Chapter one of ‘Authentic Happiness’ blew me away with its insight that happiness is not solely dependent on external circumstances, but is also determined by our individual happiness set point. I’ve never thought about this, but it actually makes sense. Although our happiness depends on many factors such as circumstances and life conditions, still, the most significant factor is the certain level that we inherit from our parents. Pretty wild, right?

That concept is known as the «happiness set range» – the idea that we each have a level of happiness that we naturally tend to return to, regardless of external circumstances. It definitely challenges the notion that happiness is solely determined by what happens to us, and suggests that genetics may also play a role in our ability to experience and maintain happiness. However, Seligman argues that while we may not be able to control our set point, we can take steps to «hack» it and increase our overall happiness through things like gratitude, mindfulness, and positive relationships. 💯

It was just an intro, the tip of an iceberg. So, stay tuned for more insights from the book in my next blog post!» 💫

Here’s the list of useful words I found in the book:

• Imbue – to fill something or someone with a particular feeling, quality, or idea: His poetry is imbued with deep, religious feeling.
• Enshrine – to contain or keep something as if in a holy place: Her father plans to build an altar at her grave, enshrining the dress and shoes she wore that July day.
• Shred of smth – a very small amount of something: There’s still a shred of hope that a peace agreement can be reached.
• Fidget – to make continuous, small movements, especially if they do not have a particular purpose and you make them without meaning to, for example because you are nervous or bored: Children can’t sit still for long without fidgeting.
• Inexorable – continuing without any possibility of being stopped: the inexorable progress of science