It's the little things in life that can help to increase your happiness.
Money doesn't make you happy. At least once you've taken care of your basic needs. In fact researchers at the University of Nottingham have found that newly wealthy lottery winners prefer life's little pleasures to the big expensive ones.
What made the lottery winners happy wasn't things like expensive cars and vacations but little things like reading a book, enjoying a bottle of wine, or taking time to listen to music. It seems that taking some time for one's self and indulging in little treats can go a long way in increasing happiness.
In our society marketers bombard our senses with the message that bigger, more expensive material things will make us happy. However when we pursue the bigger and better ideology we feed our own unhappiness because there is always more just on the horizon. Also, when we accumulate a lot of material things we must maintain, organize and protect them. We like to feed our egos with material things and our egos are never satisfied.
When I walk through the local mall I am amazed at how much "stuff" there is in there. How much of this is really needed?
So next time your feeling a bit down you may consider taking some time to enjoy the simple pleasures. A happy mind is a health body.
References:
University of Nottingham
Money doesn't make you happy. At least once you've taken care of your basic needs. In fact researchers at the University of Nottingham have found that newly wealthy lottery winners prefer life's little pleasures to the big expensive ones.
What made the lottery winners happy wasn't things like expensive cars and vacations but little things like reading a book, enjoying a bottle of wine, or taking time to listen to music. It seems that taking some time for one's self and indulging in little treats can go a long way in increasing happiness.
In our society marketers bombard our senses with the message that bigger, more expensive material things will make us happy. However when we pursue the bigger and better ideology we feed our own unhappiness because there is always more just on the horizon. Also, when we accumulate a lot of material things we must maintain, organize and protect them. We like to feed our egos with material things and our egos are never satisfied.
When I walk through the local mall I am amazed at how much "stuff" there is in there. How much of this is really needed?
So next time your feeling a bit down you may consider taking some time to enjoy the simple pleasures. A happy mind is a health body.
References:
University of Nottingham