People often wonder where happiness comes from. It is not an easy question to answer and it really depends on what an individual person considers to be happiness. Often, people are saying that when they win a large amount of money they will be happy, people might say, “When I win ten million on the lottery, then I will be happy.” If we look at people who have suddenly become very wealthy though, we find that they still do not feel particularly happier than before.
There was a famous example in the 1960′s of a woman who won around a million pounds. Initially she was very happy and she bought all of the things that she had wanted, she moved out of her room above a shop and bought many expensive cars. Shortly after this though, her boyfriend was killed while driving one of the cars. Several years later she had no money left and no boyfriend – in this situation, money did certainly not make her happier.
There is a strong argument that buying things does not make us happy in the long term. Many people will say that happiness comes from the way that our minds work and it is all about having the right state of mind. It has been studied for centuries and it seems that having the right mind set is a key to finding happiness.
It is also important to consider that environment will have an impact on how happy someone is. It may well be that if we are in an environment that is wonderful, we will be happier. The wonderful environment stimulates are mind and makes us happy. Even if it is the environment that is making is happy, it is just putting our minds in the right state to find happiness.
Much thought has been put into the idea that we might be able to find happiness if we simply picture in our minds that we have all that we want. If you put into your mind that you have a million pounds then this may well bring you happiness.
There are also philosophers who have theorised that by thinking about this it puts an imprint of what we want on our sub-conscious and by doing this we cause ourself to take conscious actions to achieve these goals. George Winslow Plummer wrote about this issue in his famous book and says that thinking about what you really desire is very important in finding true happiness.
Many of these ideas suggest that happiness will just come from finding a happy mind set. It has been said that a good thought will clear away a bad thought – therefore happiness might come from just thinking positive thoughts all the time.
