only love makes us happy, page-7

one of my hobbies is the new study of happiness called hedonics

anyway it appears that we are genetically programmed not to be totally satisfied with life

also of interest is that what we want does not necessarily make us happy eg money, success, a beautiful wife or rich successful husband, children
we all think these will make us happy but when we get them they infact dont make us happy
nature drives us to have these things because they have survival value but doesn't give a fig if we are happy.
it is a trick of nature.
secondly, that we tend to think things are lot worse than they are

apparently this all has survival value
if you worry a lot about things you have better chance of avoiding danger
so we may be genetically programmed to think negatively and not only that irrationally negative

we also have the ability to learn and adapt so we can counter excess negativity by special techniques
1. cognitive behaviour therapy
2. awareness of thoughts ie meditation
3. being externally centered on things bigger than the self eg religion, doing volunteer work, being involved in big projects eg building boat or writing a book etc
4. choosing to do things that give you pleasure
5. keeping a diary

however having said that we are still programmed to be unhappy so you never totally succeed.