Happiness: The science behind your smile

One of my new years resolutions was to read two books per month, retired and all I figured it was a reasonable goal. I'm on pace thus far as I read both "The Monk and the Riddle" by Randy Komisar and "Happiness: The Science behind your smile" by Daniel Nettle. The latter was a better read, very intriguing facts and theories about Happiness. I've become passionate about learning and understanding all aspects of happiness. Which is one of the main purposes of life that all humans pursue. I highly recommend reading this book, it will definitely change your outlook on life. Here are the most intriguing points I learned from this book:

• Writing down your thoughts and reflecting more often, whether negative or positive has been proven to improve your mental well-being as well as your immune system. (which is why I started this blog :)
• We often spend most of our time doing and striving for things we think we want and will make us happy (such as money) but in fact only provide temporary pleasure and not lasting happiness. Thus it is important for us to understand exactly what makes us happy.
• There are many non-drug remedies to treat depression and other 'mental disorders' that do the exact same thing chemically that the anti-depressants do and have positive side effects! (Anti-depressants are like band aids with bacteria on them; They cover the wounds so they look fine, but once you remove the band aid, you'll discover that the band aid actually made the wound worse.)
• Feeling down? Even if you're happy here are a few things we should all do: 1. EXERCISE. if exercise came in pill form it would be the highest selling drug in the world. 30 minutes of exercise everyday will make you happier, smarter, less stressed and healthier. 2. Make a list of all the activities you do that make you the happiest (being with family/friends, traveling, sports, etc.). Make a goal to do at least one of these activities everyday. 3. Understand your thoughts, positive and more importantly the negative. Our negative thoughts (worry, fear, stress, guilt, shame, anger, etc.) are innate in us dating back to our fight or flight survival days. Negative thoughts were installed in our mind through evolution to protect us from predators and danger. Thus they tend to resonate in our minds excessively and grow quickly once they enter the mind. It is important for us to be aware of them, and recognize the often irrational negative thoughts. Positive thinking can counter these thoughts and improve your health and happiness.

I'm so passionate about these issues that I'd like to write a book and create a happiness program someday. For reasons near and dear to my heart, my ultimate goal is to create a non-drug prescription that doctors can prescribe to people with depression and other 'mental disorders'.