Tuesday, January 26, 2016

The secret to happiness (for men)

My son likes to tell me when he is not happy. If I take him to a store, I hear "But that doesn't make me happy." If I tell him to clean up his toys, I hear, "That makes me so sad." He is five: Happiness is getting to do whatever he wants when he wants.

I used to think that happiness depended on the person - that everyone needed to figure out what makes them truly happy. I am (evidently) wrong, though, as researchers have drilled happiness down to three things:
  1. Having close relationships.
  2. The quality of those relationships.
  3. Stable, supportive marriages.
There is one flaw in this list: They only studied males. I'm not saying that the above list couldn't apply to women, I'm just saying that I know a lot of women who are quite happy being alone.

I'm actually skeptical about the whole idea of pinpointing happiness down to just a few simple concepts - no matter what your gender is.

So, beyond the static answers of "family and friends" what truly makes you happy? Share with me in the comments.

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