Shimoff: Feeling happier already
Posted By Vanessa on March 25, 2010
So far, I am enjoying Happy for No Reason
I didn’t do too well on the happiness habits section but I nailed the connection to Spirit questions. Now I just have to get to the part of the book where Shimoff will tell me what habits to practice. Luckily, I’ve finished the theory part and am at the beginning of Part 2 which is the bulk of the book and devoted to Happiness Habits. Excellent.
Shimoff has given me hope by explaining that I have a happiness set-point and that while half of that is determined by genetics, “40% is determined by our habitual thoughts, feelings, words, and actions” (19). The idea is that if we practice the habits diligently enough, we will become Happy for No Reason, “a specific measurable physiological state characterized by distinct brain activity, heart rhythms, and body chemistry,” which totally reminds me of Heartmath
Interestingly, according to research, only 10% of our happiness comes from our circumstances. Wealth, status and happiness are therefore only weakly correlated as we can easily see by examining the lives of celebrities. This is important because our circumstances can suddenly change, Shimoff reminds us to look for the good in every change, a message strongly conveyed by Neale Donald Walsch’s When Everything Changes, Change Everything
Shimoff shares the 8 traits of unconditionally happy people (21) and the 3 Principles to Live By (36), the Laws of Expansion, Universal Support, and Attraction. She provides lots of research from the field of positive psychology to help convince the scientific and skeptical side of my brain and uses the analogy of an internal GPS, which totally reminded me of Martha Beck’s Finding Your Own North Star
She even convinced me to set a Happy For No Reason Intention: I’m grateful that I am fully present and open to the flow of God into me and through me to the world.
Note that I have adopted Walsch’s definition of God: God=Life=Light=Peace=Freedom=Happiness.
Perhaps the most interesting thing so far is that the day after reading Part I, I had a minor revelation, or perhaps it was a bit more than minor. I suddenly realized that I feel guilty when I feel happy. And I have been feeling happier of late, happier than I can ever remember feeling before. I feel more in my body, more present to the moment.
I am no longer scurrying from place to place, desperately trying to keep up with my own notions of success and achievement. Notions, I have realized, that are not my own and never were. They belonged to my family, and with my revelation I have decided to give them back. Being happy and being responsible are not mutually exclusive. Being happy and being successful at the same time is possible, and a great goal to have. And those are the new notions that I am forming grooves for (watch What the “Bleep” Do We Know?
I made a decision to follow my North Star and pay attention to joy and I am devoting serious effort to those habits. And it hasn’t been easy. But when I sit here typing, I can feel a little voice, way deep down, cheering me on, urging me towards happiness. Yes, my tummy still hurts and I start feeling anxious whenever I think about how happy I am feeling and how well things are going but I am learning to recognize and dismiss that anxiety. I know it isn’t mine. Now I can feel gratitude for all I have – the Love, the Life, the Freedom, the sense of Oneness that Tomorrow’s God
And that’s pretty cool. I am so grateful for these books on joy and purpose and living an authentic life and I am so happy that I am finally starting to get it.
[...] What the “Bleep” Do We Know?What the Bleep Do We Know!?, which I’ve talked about before, and a scientific researcher who has created an impressive and inspiring body of work on how the [...]