Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsJoyExcitementGratitudePrideOptimismContentmentLoveKeep in Mind
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Joy
Excitement
Gratitude
Pride
Optimism
Contentment
Love
Keep in Mind
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Happiness can take different forms and represents a spectrum of satisfying emotions that contribute to emotional and physical well-being. When you think of happiness, it might stem from joy, excitement, gratitude, pride, optimism, contentment, or love.
Pursuing happiness is one of the most common human searches, but it tends to be an elusive goal. Luckily for us, the experience of “happiness” can take many forms and result from various behaviors and life circumstances. Research can now point us to concrete ways to find or develop these various forms of happiness in our lives.
At a GlanceHappiness is a broad concept that can stem from a variety of positive emotions. It might come in the form of joy or excitement when we experience particularly fun moments in life. It can also come from feeling grateful for the things we have, proud of the things we have accomplished, or optimistic about what it still to come. Or it can be a feeling we find in moments of contentment or love for the people around us. Keep reading to learn more about thecomplex emotions involved in happinessand what you can do to bring more of this feeling into your own life.
At a Glance
Happiness is a broad concept that can stem from a variety of positive emotions. It might come in the form of joy or excitement when we experience particularly fun moments in life. It can also come from feeling grateful for the things we have, proud of the things we have accomplished, or optimistic about what it still to come. Or it can be a feeling we find in moments of contentment or love for the people around us. Keep reading to learn more about thecomplex emotions involved in happinessand what you can do to bring more of this feeling into your own life.
Press Play for Advice on Being Happy
Thefeeling of joycomes from losing yourself in thepresent momentand appreciating what you have. It’s fleeting in that it can sneak up on you and sometimes can disappear if you try to analyze it too much. It can also be found in many things if you have the right attitude and perspective, so it’s a relatively accessible form of happiness to seek.
How to Find JoyThe easiest way to find joy is to engage in activities you know usually bring you joy. This can be anything from yoga to amusement parks to your favorite music. It’s also important to try some new things to find novel avenues of joy.
How to Find Joy
The easiest way to find joy is to engage in activities you know usually bring you joy. This can be anything from yoga to amusement parks to your favorite music. It’s also important to try some new things to find novel avenues of joy.
Though it can last longer than joy, this emotion is still somewhat fleeting—it dissipates rather quickly and can turn into ennui. However, it can be a motivating factor.
For example, excitement about a new job can motivate you to work harder, and excitement about a new relationship can motivate you to put more effort into working through difficulties.
Excitement can also help you to get through jitters. Feeling nervous about certain experiences is normal, but shifting how you view those situations can help you feel more excited than scared.
If you tell yourself you are excited rather than anxious or nervous, studies have found, you can channel that potentially uncomfortable energy into more constructive activity.
Excitement can also extend the positive feelings you get from an activity. If you focus on your excited feelings of anticipation, the fun of a vacation can extend into the days and weeks before you even leave.
How to Cultivate Excitement
Gratitudecan disappear if you don’t actively focus on it, but it’s also an important form of happiness. According to research, those who feel gratitude regularly tend to be happier and healthier than those who are less prone to these feelings.
Cultivating these feelings of gratitude has been shown to ward off feelings of depression, among other things.It may be less obvious, but this type of happiness can be brought to mind again and again.
How to Feel More GratefulFortunately, cultivating gratitude isn’t difficult. You can use agratitude journal,loving-kindness meditation, or even simply tell people in your life that you appreciate them, and do it often.
How to Feel More Grateful
Fortunately, cultivating gratitude isn’t difficult. You can use agratitude journal,loving-kindness meditation, or even simply tell people in your life that you appreciate them, and do it often.
Arrival Fallacy: Will Reaching a Goal Make You Happy?
While smug or competitive pride can be negative, feelings of pride in your accomplishments can be a happiness-boosting form of gratitude. You can take pride in your work, your family, your home, yourself, and in anything you put effort, care, and love into.
Other Ways to Develop PrideNotice the things you do wellCelebrate your successesEnjoy the learning processSet goals and appreciate new challengesTry new thingsAppreciate what others have to offer
Other Ways to Develop Pride
Notice the things you do wellCelebrate your successesEnjoy the learning processSet goals and appreciate new challengesTry new thingsAppreciate what others have to offer
Studies also connectoptimismwith greater outcomes in life.Optimists tend to focus on possibilities and have a combination of gratitude and pride.
They’re grateful for all of the possibilities life presents, proud of their abilities to harness these resources, and have a strong belief in themselves and their ability to make their attempts at whatever goals they pursue success.
Optimists, when faced with disappointment, tend to minimize it, pinpoint how they can do better next time, and see mitigating factors that led to theirnegative outcomes. When they succeed, they give themselves credit and take it as a sign of better things to come. Optimism tends to be an overall way of being, so it’s less fleeting than other forms of happiness.
Become More OptimisticNotice when good things happenReframenegative thoughtsForgive yourselffor your mistakesCultivatepositive self-talkShow gratitudeTake credit for your successesRemind yourself that setbacks are temporaryFind positive sources of inspiration
Become More Optimistic
Notice when good things happenReframenegative thoughtsForgive yourselffor your mistakesCultivatepositive self-talkShow gratitudeTake credit for your successesRemind yourself that setbacks are temporaryFind positive sources of inspiration
Being Optimistic When the World Around You Isn’t
People strive to feel this form of happiness, and it can come with a focus of gratitude on what you have as well as a feeling that you have climbed high and deserve to enjoy the rewards that come with the effort. Reveling in your accomplishments and in everything you have can bring contentment, so focusing on what you have is a great way to stay content.
How to Increase ContentmentStrategies that can help increase contentment include avoidingcomparing yourself to othersand practicingself-acceptance.
How to Increase Contentment
Strategies that can help increase contentment include avoidingcomparing yourself to othersand practicingself-acceptance.
Subjective Well-Being—A Way to Measure Your Own Happiness
Love and happinessare sometimes said to be interchangeable, that love is an infinite source of happiness, and happiness itself is a form of love. However you look at it, both are vital to have in your life.
Finding Love in Your LifeEven though stressful relationships can sap us of happiness,healthy and supportive relationshipscan bring great and lasting happiness. Focusing on relationship skills, spending time with loved ones, and, in other ways, cultivating these relationships can help you to keep this form of happiness in your life.
Finding Love in Your Life
Even though stressful relationships can sap us of happiness,healthy and supportive relationshipscan bring great and lasting happiness. Focusing on relationship skills, spending time with loved ones, and, in other ways, cultivating these relationships can help you to keep this form of happiness in your life.
The 6 Types of Basic Emotions and Their Effect on Human Behavior
10 Common Positive Emotions Beyond Happiness
5 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Catalino LI, Algoe SB, Fredrickson BL.Prioritizing positivity: An effective approach to pursuing happiness?Emotion. 2014;14(6):1155-1161. doi:10.1037/a0038029Brooks AW.Get excited: Reappraising pre-performance anxiety as excitement.J Exp Psychol Gen. 2014;143(3):1144-1158. doi:10.1037/a0035325Jans-Beken L, Jacobs N, Janssens M, et al.Gratitude and health: An updated review.J Posit Psychol. 2019. doi:10.1080/17439760.2019.1651888Diniz G, Korkes L, Tristão LS, Pelegrini R, Bellodi PL, Bernardo WM.The effects of gratitude interventions: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Einstein (Sao Paulo). 2023;21:eRW0371. doi:10.31744/einstein_journal/2023RW0371Kleiman EM, Chiara AM, Liu RT, Jager-Hyman SG, Choi JY, Alloy LB.Optimism and well-being: a prospective multi-method and multi-dimensional examination of optimism as a resilience factor following the occurrence of stressful life events.Cogn Emot. 2017;31(2):269-283. doi:10.1080/02699931.2015.1108284
5 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Catalino LI, Algoe SB, Fredrickson BL.Prioritizing positivity: An effective approach to pursuing happiness?Emotion. 2014;14(6):1155-1161. doi:10.1037/a0038029Brooks AW.Get excited: Reappraising pre-performance anxiety as excitement.J Exp Psychol Gen. 2014;143(3):1144-1158. doi:10.1037/a0035325Jans-Beken L, Jacobs N, Janssens M, et al.Gratitude and health: An updated review.J Posit Psychol. 2019. doi:10.1080/17439760.2019.1651888Diniz G, Korkes L, Tristão LS, Pelegrini R, Bellodi PL, Bernardo WM.The effects of gratitude interventions: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Einstein (Sao Paulo). 2023;21:eRW0371. doi:10.31744/einstein_journal/2023RW0371Kleiman EM, Chiara AM, Liu RT, Jager-Hyman SG, Choi JY, Alloy LB.Optimism and well-being: a prospective multi-method and multi-dimensional examination of optimism as a resilience factor following the occurrence of stressful life events.Cogn Emot. 2017;31(2):269-283. doi:10.1080/02699931.2015.1108284
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Catalino LI, Algoe SB, Fredrickson BL.Prioritizing positivity: An effective approach to pursuing happiness?Emotion. 2014;14(6):1155-1161. doi:10.1037/a0038029Brooks AW.Get excited: Reappraising pre-performance anxiety as excitement.J Exp Psychol Gen. 2014;143(3):1144-1158. doi:10.1037/a0035325Jans-Beken L, Jacobs N, Janssens M, et al.Gratitude and health: An updated review.J Posit Psychol. 2019. doi:10.1080/17439760.2019.1651888Diniz G, Korkes L, Tristão LS, Pelegrini R, Bellodi PL, Bernardo WM.The effects of gratitude interventions: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Einstein (Sao Paulo). 2023;21:eRW0371. doi:10.31744/einstein_journal/2023RW0371Kleiman EM, Chiara AM, Liu RT, Jager-Hyman SG, Choi JY, Alloy LB.Optimism and well-being: a prospective multi-method and multi-dimensional examination of optimism as a resilience factor following the occurrence of stressful life events.Cogn Emot. 2017;31(2):269-283. doi:10.1080/02699931.2015.1108284
Catalino LI, Algoe SB, Fredrickson BL.Prioritizing positivity: An effective approach to pursuing happiness?Emotion. 2014;14(6):1155-1161. doi:10.1037/a0038029
Brooks AW.Get excited: Reappraising pre-performance anxiety as excitement.J Exp Psychol Gen. 2014;143(3):1144-1158. doi:10.1037/a0035325
Jans-Beken L, Jacobs N, Janssens M, et al.Gratitude and health: An updated review.J Posit Psychol. 2019. doi:10.1080/17439760.2019.1651888
Diniz G, Korkes L, Tristão LS, Pelegrini R, Bellodi PL, Bernardo WM.The effects of gratitude interventions: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Einstein (Sao Paulo). 2023;21:eRW0371. doi:10.31744/einstein_journal/2023RW0371
Kleiman EM, Chiara AM, Liu RT, Jager-Hyman SG, Choi JY, Alloy LB.Optimism and well-being: a prospective multi-method and multi-dimensional examination of optimism as a resilience factor following the occurrence of stressful life events.Cogn Emot. 2017;31(2):269-283. doi:10.1080/02699931.2015.1108284
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