The Science of Happiness

If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

This whole idea of happiness for a long time was thought to be a bunch of hooey, the realm of poets and philosophers but not something measurable or real.  However, over the last 20 years the field of positive psychology has made a lot of strides toward legitimacy.  So here are some pieces that tell you what they’ve come up with ~ Rev Kane

From Real Simple, a piece on the relationship between genetics and life choices and how the inter-relate  http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/inspiration-motivation/the-science-of-happiness-00000000050227/index.html

From Time.com a pretty comprehensive piece on what Psychology knows about what makes us happy  http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1015902,00.html

A pop culture piece from Men’s Health on how variety might be the secret to happiness  http://news.menshealth.com/the-new-science-of-happiness/2012/05/16/

A good survey of the science from the LA Times  http://www.latimes.com/la-he-happy8-2008sep08,0,6171435.story