Hi, I am journaling for a while now and I can see a strong effect on my happiness and well-being. There is tons of research on this but just to mention a few scientifically proven effects:

• journaling reduces stress and improves immune system
• releases negative emotions

Last year, I started reading a lot of papers and books about happiness and well-being and I believe that journaling and self-reflection are among the GREATEST tools to live a happy and fulfilled live. Bases on this excitement, I started a project with a friend called layers. It is a digital journal that helps you reflect on what matters for your happiness (e.g. on your relationships or your emotions), that gives you advice and where you can learn more about the underlying science of happiness.

We are looking for people that want to test the app and give feedback (and potentially co-develop new ideas with us). Let me know if you have any advice or thoughts → you can test it here for free: layersjournal.app.

I was always interested in internal goals, like self-improvement, being authentic, and practicing mindfulness etc. For the longest time I never pursued external goals, like being wealthy, getting materialistic things, fame, and improving my looks because those are things I can't control. I'm 27 years old, and I feel content with my choices.

But now that I ensued my internal goals and I'm pretty happy currently, there's a part of me that craves for more. A strong desire to make millions, be famous, and get the body I always wanted is burning inside me. And now feel more motivated now that I have something external to chase. I have so much energy; it's like I tapped into some dark power or something. It's odd how this never happened for my internal goals.

I do have a plan to achieve these goals, and they are practical for me. I want to let you know that it does put a big smile on my face just thinking that I will get there someday

According to the world happiness report, the United States and Canada had the strongest decline in happiness of all western countries, of about 10% and being on place 120 of 134 countries. Especially amongst the young, happiness levels are dropping significantly, most likely due to climate change, social inequities, and political polarization which can all be amplified on social media (according to John Helliwell, a Professor Emeritus at University of British Columbia).

https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2024/happiness-of-the-younger-the-older-and-those-in-between/

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/03/20/1239537074/u-s-drops-in-new-global-happiness-ranking-one-age-group-bucks-the-trend

When I learned science I realised quickly that the more I learn the more complex it gets. It is like trying to escape a room but the room gets bigger and bigger as I try to get out. There is no end to science and it makes me sad. I recently started learning philosophy and it's even worse. The more I learn about Philosophy more I know about the harsh reality of this world. There is no happiness. We always think this will make us happy and that made us happy but in reality nothing makes us happy, it is just an illusion. I'm sad.

Has anyone else read this book? I've loved every page of it and it really made me start my healing proces & I started working towards being free and happy.

Just curious if anyone else loved it as well and if so, what has it learned you?

Can’t reach my potential. Should I just be done? I have too many obstacles in the way of my singing goals

Statistics show it helps, and then there’s a law of diminishing returns after every dollar over that amount ($125,000 last time I checked.)

When i was a kid i had so much hobbies, i used to read books, to draw , to do sports. At the age of 14 my mom was so concerned about me making a good career with all her pressure i focused so much on my studies and what i wanna do with my career. I ve been accepted in the best business school in my country and now it s my last year and i m a marketing intern in a very known company. My mom is happy, i m not.. I just didn t like the corporate life, i didn t like how everyone should seek for the approaval of their boss and all that for what? money? I don t find it worth it people spend 8 hours of every day for money only. I still like marketing but this whole definition of success isn t what i want in my life. I want to be free. I forgot about what i used to like, i lost the passion of doing my hobbies. Even when i try i just get bored easily it s not fun anymore. I need help to know how to be happy, how to know who am i , what i really wanna do with my life

In case you did not see it: https://www.reddit.com/r/happiness/comments/1b9o2dn/comment/ky8hkr0/?context=3

Your replies brought me to tears. While some may disagree with parts of my "philosophising", a mutual ground was found between us and I'm so happy my words made an at least somewhat of an impact on some of you.

Since my post, I have defeated pneumonia for the third time this year and it seems my body is as strong willed as I believe I am mentally. Your responses help fuel my love for still being here.

If i never post on this subreddit again, thank you all so much. Love life, because it deserves you.

Hollo I am a 26m gonna be 27m in just a few months. And I feel like my life for the last 3 years has been a complete joke. The reason why is because the vast majority of Al my freinds that I was close with Who just a few years ago we were having an amazing time. My life felt like it was good and going in a positive direction. Me and my buddies hade a great time together we would go to parties and clubs. And I felt like I belonged to something and that I mattered to somebody. But now I have like only 2 freinds I’m close with one from work the other from from school. But it’s not the same every time we go out we just do simple things we don’t go out parting or to clubs. I have 2 friends from high school that I still talk to but I only see them once a year. This is not what I want for myself. I wanna be able to expand my territory and have way more friends than I do it the moment. But Even when I meet people and that have the same interests as me They still bail on me when I try to do stuff with them. I frankly feel like my life is just a black whole and it’s hasn’t gotten better. I litterly feel sad everyday, there are days we’re I am happy and it last for a few days and I feel good about myself but it only last for a while and the self loathing kicks in just days after. And I can’t just and the regret the feeling of being locked out of all the opportunities to have friends and have fun take over. I don’t cry about it because I feel that I need to be strong and not let it get to me sometimes il cry but it’s pretty rare. I don’t wanna turn 30 and look back at my 20s as a time off disappointment. I wanna remember my 20s as a time of joy and happiness and pride. I don’t wanna remember it as a lonely time. I’m only 26m but I feel like I’m 76m and I feel like an old man. I feel old and it’s not a feeling that I should have at my age this is supposed to be a time to be joyful and happy. Because of this I have delt with over the years I feel like I have lost a sense of meaning in my life, because the self loathing kicks in and takes over. I feel like I’ve missed the opportunity to do things like travel places being apart of my friends weddings. I cannot keep feeling this way. It’s to much I just want to feel liked again but even bigger than that I wanna feel like I belong and that I’m part of something instead of feeling outcast from society.

Hey wholesome people, I’ve found myself in a position where I feel completely abandoned, lost and insignificant. I can’t seem to find relief and to be perfectly honest, I’m scared right now. I’m not looking for the secret to happiness, but I was wondering if people have some encouraging or uplifting words/stories to get me through this evening so I can live to fight another day.

https://youtu.be/8KkKuTCFvzI?si=G3awKhgTt_E1DV9H

When I first watched it, I felt it totally made sense. After all humans are social animals.

Today it was the fifth time I watched it, my critical thinking started to kick in.

I wonder if people are socially constrained to believe happiness is all about having good relationships with other people hence they spent more effort to maintain relationships?

If people are brainwashed by the society to believe painting gives you happiness, they’d all spend a lot of time on painting then report a high level of happiness because their brains have already associated achievement in painting with happiness?

Just like society usually define a man’s success as having a wife and kids never divorce, I heard my parents in law (well, ex parents in law soon haha) talked proudly how they were still together but all old people they know had divorced n ended up being alone.

I heard their comment and I thought what was wrong of being alone? How do you know they aren’t happily alone? 🤔

Another thought I have is that I find this scientific study contradicts some philosophical ideas on happiness.

True happiness is within. It’s self content. It shouldn’t be replied upon how well you get along with others. If relationship is the biggest factor, wouldn’t that mean your happiness is affected by factors you can’t even control (you can’t control others n what they do in a relationship with you). That’s definitely against stoicism.

What are your thoughts on happiness? 🤔

we all have this negative voice in our heads whose only job is to remind us of our mistakes and the things we’re not good at.

But what if I told you that this voice is not you?

This voice is basically the result of habits that you’ve picked up over time without even realizing it - habits that are making this inner critic louder and louder.

One of those subtle habits is Carrying a False Persona. Maybe you are someone who acts differently at work or online. Maybe you act funnier or more adventurous because someone once told you, ‘You’re funny’ or they would love to hang out with you. Or you might be having a tough time but don’t want to worry your friends and family, so you pretend that everything is fine. People seem to like this act, so you keep doing it, even if it’s not really you. But what most of us don’t realize is that if you’re constantly pretending to be someone you’re not, you start to dislike the false persona you present to the world and by extension, yourself for creating it.

Another habit that makes us hate ourselves is not letting ourselves be happy. Imagine you are someone who has always been told that you’re not good enough, like a child who constantly hears that they should be more like their sibling. You hear it so much that you start to believe it. And you think that no matter what you do, it’s never good enough. Now you think that wanting to be happy is selfish. So you listen to that little voice in your head that tells you not to get your hopes up. It reminds you of all the times things went wrong when you let yourself feel happy. But you might not realize that when feelings of regret and self-blame grow to be unbearable, it can lead to self-hatred and keeps you from re-engaging with life.

Similar to this there are more habits like failing to accept compliments, being insecure all the time, keeping gratification over responsibilities and more. So before these habits take a toll on our self-esteem, it is important to address them.

I recently came across some interesting research studies and articles on this topic and decided to create an animated video to illustrate the topic.

If you prefer reading, I have included important reference links below.

I hope you find this informative. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!

Cheers!

citing:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ijsa.12322

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ijsa.12319

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339460807_Shying_Away_From_The_Spotlight_New_Study_Hints_At_Why_Some_People_Can%27t_Accept_Compliments

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371729775_Giving_and_Responding_An_Analysis_of_Compliment_and_Compliment_Responses_among_Selected_Students_of_the_College_of_Arts_and_Sciences_at_Cavite_State_University-Main_Campus

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/2969DE4B222DA037996F82EB3CB51465/S1743923X22000083a.pdf/insecurity_and_selfesteem_elucidating_the_psychological_foundations_of_negative_attitudes_toward_women.pdf

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262192474_Indecisiveness_and_career_indecision_A_test_of_a_theoretical_model

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10384162231180339

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10902-021-00440-y

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-023-04455-x

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5115643/

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11469-018-9983-8

There are different types of people. One who are trying to be cheerful, happy, laughing. Their life is the life of achievement, success, pleasure. This is ephemeral. This is momentary. But there are some people who prefer to move from a state of pleasure to a state of peace. They like this emptiness because this emptiness is peace. It's the very foundation of happiness. They live with contentment and fulfillment. They experience eternal bliss, that forever flows. Not pleasure that comes and goes and this is a choice. We can choose success and achievement, pleasure, wealth, name and fame. All we can choose contentment and fulfillment, peace and tranquility. There are some who go beyond achievement and even fulfillment. They reach enlightenment. Then there is no empty feeling. There is the feeling of Divine love, eternal bliss and everlasting peace.

Why be happy and defeat depression with no afterlife?:

With no afterlife or “reason” for being here, we are left with life as it lies before us preceding the opportunity we get to choose to interpret its results. The possibility for any event to occur is best described by a system of mathmatics that is near-impossible for both the layman and the genius to comprehend. The metaphysical reasons for these mathmatics is a debate that, while philosophically enjoyable, is ultimately unawnserable. But the impossibility of the existence of an answer is why we should be content with our “reason” for existing in the first place.

The likelihood of you existing, your history and even the event of you reading this text are so improbable that the existence of it alone should be celebrated. It may be that there is no definitive answer to the “why” and comprehension of this concept will always be a struggle, as this introspective odyssey has plagued us for millennia. But the fact that it is even being questioned is a testament to human greatness. Our ability to quest for truth evidences the beautiful luck we have to be the ones on the very journey we find ourselves contending to begin with.

No matter how desperate life becomes, the fact that we can call it as such is so immeasurably preferable to nothingness that it exemplifies why true appreciation of the fact of existence is not only a reality, but is conducive and paramount to discovering an undefinable yet veraciously concluded unanimous happiness.

Because of our ability to reason, only we as humans on this earth have the opportunity to experience this kind of contentment. And while human societies around the globe waste this life and destroy the opportunities we are afforded, you as an individual still have the ability to be joyfully purposeful. Be free of the moral chains that our societies cast you in.

For you are real, so you are true. You are that truth we forever attempt to seek. You are what is beautiful in this temporal realm that is fortunate to be. You should do nothing but rejoice. You need not the metaphysical “realities” put forward by the potentially destructive socially created philosophies of religious entities to simply love the experience of our stunning pre-existence. They are inherently a misunderstanding of the beauty of being.

Because to survive is optional, but to live is to succeed regardless of what may come after death. If I provide anyone reading this with anything it would be this: Use the capacities you are given as a living being as best as you can, because the best luck you’ll ever ascertain is to live in the first place.

I hope I contribute happiness to all those I meet. Ultimately, the words I have written before you is the opus I hope to leave behind to describe why I believe all of us deserve and are able to achieve ultimate happiness.

Hate is therefore the enemy of this existential discovery, and for that love should forever be the ubiquitous retort.

Gaz

P.S: I struggled with mental health disorders due to losing my boyfriend and suffering severe physical health disorders, rendering me part-disabled. I have plenty reason to recede into a emotionally destructive pit.

But I am forever happy now as a result of this here described eventual moral epiphany, and I write this so that others may defeat the horrific realities we can be forced to suffer. That is, I think, the only reason I survived.

I promise only one thing as a result: You are human, and so you are beautiful. Thank you for reading.

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPsQ94D8FuA

Happiness, I once thought, was the absence of worries. About a year ago though, I realized an overactive mind was the thief of my joy. In moments of introspection, I noticed that much of my discontent stemmed from incessant overanalysis.

I decided to capture this realization in a short film. The film idea randomly came to me one day, and I'm grateful to have finally finished. In it is both a portrayal of how my mind feels in these moments and a friend's insights on the topic that resonated deeply with me. His perspective on overthinking remains one I continue to revisit from time-to-time.

Creating this video wasn't just about documenting thoughts; it was a continuous process of internalizing, understanding, learning, and unlearning. For too long, I viewed the pursuit of happiness purely as an absence, a state defined by what I lacked. But now, I see it equally as a journey of subtraction—shedding the unnecessary thoughts that cloud judgment.

There will always be more that can be done in every situation, but I have learned that it is perfectly OK to decide when I have done "enough". That I can strive to do everything in my control, but recognize that my actions fall along an asymptote where completion, likely, never truly reaches "100%".

And when in doubt, to not think - just do.

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It's my second (amateur) short film - I wanted to share it here in hopes that maybe at least one person will take something away from it. If you feel compelled, I'd love to hear your thoughts :)

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My 1st short film involved me asking strangers "Are You Happy?". If you're curious, attaching the video link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNNwxyeDLW8