'Happiness and health, part two: What you can do to boost happiness by Shirley Archer, JD, MA

I'm a happy person. An ex-boyfriend once told me, "You're happy because you don't have any problems." I told him, "You're unhappy because you don't know what a real problem is." That relationship didn't work out. But our conversation illustrates typical perceptions. Many people think happiness is something that comes to them, rather than something to create for themselves. Science now reveals that your efforts, including your mindset, exert a significant influence over your happiness. Researchers have broken down three distinct paths to happiness: positive emotions and pleasure, engagement, and meaning. Practices that boost happiness, therefore, increase experiencing and savoring pleasures, losing the self in engaging activities and participating in meaningful activities.