Happily Biased

This topic of the optimism bias theory is becoming more popularly discussed in the field of psychology and the sub-fields related. By a quick Google or yahoo search you will find articles from TIME and The Huffington Post, and a TED presentation, all by Tali Sharot. I highly recommend reading and viewing these materials on this topic, because I will not approach this topic as she and many neuroscientist will by looking at statistical data.

My goal in this article is to attempt to dictate that happiness makes us bias, and how optimistic stimuli is extremely difficult to rationalize effectively.

First, in my opinion, statistics cannot help right now in this study of the optimist, but does a small job of pointing us in the right direction. Why? The paradigms revolving around such studies are new, they did not exist before this century. Thus, for those interested in psychology, must philosophize over what makes themselves, in fact, biased. Truly, it is highly likely in their own research of cognitive biases that these researchers are performing the very biases they are cataloging; whether it be in the community or individually. I wish to approach this philosophically while using few terms crafted by contemporary scientist.

The idea of the optimism bias is simple; what are the most important factors for our future happiness depends how our brain will/does construct beliefs, thoughts, and overall the connectivity in relation to those positive stimuli.

The following example for optimism manipulating cognitive abilities will be depicted in a religious practitioner who is active in their religion's community. I will introduce the idea of groupthinking, and will make the argument G.T. is a prime factor in this examples optimistic irrationality. No formal religion is insisted upon in example.

For sake of argument, our practitioner of religion will be Julia, and her religion is Athenianism. Julia is known among her friends, that are not Athenian, that she is very fundamental about her beliefs. In fact, she reads her religious text nightly before bed and volunteers with her fellow Athenians to preach lessons at local colleges every Tuesday. Julia has been part of this religion since she was a child, her parents were fundamental about the practice as well, and most of her friends were apart of the same religion (except those she made in college).

One day a nonreligious person approaches Julia's group while they are preaching in the college's quad. The person claims no one can know, as of this point in time, how the universe and life began. This directly refutes a big part of Julia's religion, and they begin to argue. No need for dialog, but they go at it heavily with all of the common arguments anyone can find that a religious vs. nonreligious person will bring up. Long story short, Julia is not convinced. After hours of arguing, Julia will still not even allow herself to attempt to look at the argument from the other person's perspective. And although the challenger was willing to admit s/he could see where Julia was coming from, Julia refused to give back the same attitude. When finally asked why Julia cannot, just a little, see it from his perspective she responded "I just have faith I am right."

Now, the analysis; that 'faith' is what I had wanted the example to build up to, for good reason. This 'faith' is not created by chance or accident, her fundamental belief or 'faith' has been developed through a variety of stimuli in her life time of developing cognitively. We have her family, religious community, friends and educational materials that all through a life time have created this faith-filled attitude. My biggest point I will try and come back to; to refute all of these groups and educations, even for one moment of an argument, could cause dysphoria to that person, to Julia.

Julia's anxiety of the future is preventing her from ever suggesting she is wrong about her faith. Her developed brain is in part insisting she maintain her faith. She would, in a sense, be telling herself she has been wrong on a multitude of dimensions. Her family is wrong; the people who have raised and loved her, her entire life would have been teaching her lies or misguided truths. Her religious community in which she would have memories of making friends, picnics, charity events, and other fun activities from her childhood. Finally, her education, she has read volumes of books about what she and her family/friends have traditionally believed in as a group. All of these positive experiences are tied to that faith, and if at any point that faith is effected in the negative, Julia can find herself being depressed. (Note: In my opinion, this is perhaps why philosophy circles back to nihilism and existentialism as priority to metaphysical concerns.)

All of these groups and materials being wrong, is unacceptable to Julia and any fundamentalist or at least intensely difficult to conform as being false, if it is in fact false (which is not the point of the example). The point is whether or not a person will even be able to accept they are wrong, or even slightly wrong. The religion as example is easy because that is more casual in our society today, but this faith-like behavior can be seen in a lot of different areas. Sport fans, politics, athletes, artist, and scientific communities even can be very hardheaded when attempting to gain a new perspective on something they hold very fundamentally sound to their practice of science. At any point information challenges what we know or our stability to be happy - we may find our optimism firing into how we should formulate thoughts!

Now, it is not merely just optimism in which prevents a person like Julia to allow herself to approach alternative ideas and ideals when involving her faith. Due to the groups she is associated with through nurture, nature, by chance and by choice, Julia has a lot of even not-so positive stimuli to guide her anxiety of the future (which is her developing cognition). But, rather than talk about pessimism biases, we will discuss what has already been circled around; groupthinking.

Julia is not the only one she shares these fundamental beliefs with, in fact, her knowledge involved in her faith is overlapped heavily by her family, friends, and religious community. Groupthink theory suggest, exactly what it sounds like; we are prone as people to look towards the group for consensus of how to think and behave. If at any point our group is challenged, we become threatened individually as we will identify ourselves with our group or groups.

The bandwagon bias is the same thing as G.T. but I regard the differences as being momentary, rather than constantly effective. "Oh, 2 million people love pizza over tacos, I am going for the pizza!" Is a lame example of bandwagon bias, but, because although that person's taste buds would actually prefer the taco, s/he will go with pizza due to what the group suggestion that it is the best choice.

Take a moment... When have you submitted to the group due to sheer numbers? When have you sided with a group, due to their history of behavior rather than current behaviors of the group? Can you describe a time where the optimism of the group was given to you; to encourage you into following the group or group's ideals?

The groupthought factor, in considering Julia's faith, is immense. Another bias that will be performed due to the optimism and the groupthink, would be the confirmation and belief biases. Rather than get into detail of these biases, I suggest they are vastly similar. Both biases suggest that a person are more likely to accept information that has no conflict with their immediate beliefs systems and knowledge. I add these biases momentarily due to the fact, they assist in future development of the person's psyche. If at any point we become more acceptable to information, purely because no other information we know can conflict with the new data - is irrational. If you do not know anything about the material being told to you, just listen and examine the facts later before conforming to the information.

Consider your idol, inspiration, or respected third party - telling you that there is a new cure for a disease, you begin to report this information to whom will ever listen without ever researching. You are told you are wrong, now, depending on who you are; you will either be fundamental and argue that you are correct due to the fact this person told you, angry if you will -and/or- you will become confused and upset.

I would love to get into how emotional intelligence could be an ample part to this conversation, but I will conclude with a summary and reflection, but suggest to do a little wikipedia search on that new series of theories in cognitive studies; emotional intelligence.

I guess, I wanted to do two things with this paper; 1. I wanted to try and simplify how a person can be completely irrational, but be perfectly content with their lives. 2. The reasoning behind a person being irrational is not just a simple formula or at least it is still not able to become a simple one solution, today. The reasoning is fuzzy, it takes a lot of factors and details that go into what makes someone irrational in order to determine such. But of course the most important concern, that makes any of this even a semi-valid article is to constantly question; what is rational? No bias? One bias? Ten biases? Twenty?

While optimism can make us bias, it can also create the potential for longevity and goal orientation. However optimism does not guarantee tolerance of other people's belief and ideas, so perhaps, in this culture that is in the pursuit of happiness we should be more in the pursuit of questioning happiness.

To end, I would like to make a reflective note:

A mini-theory about attachments: Everyone wants to involve themselves with others - to love, to hate, to teach, to learn from, to pair with, to share with, to honor, to respect... These are attachments, and they are the basis of emotions. This is apart of our mimetic nature; our nature of rerepresenting/copying others in order to create a self identity. But what is the self, because really I would argue, we are two things; a self and a metaself. The metaself is our physiological natures/nurtures and our individualistic psychological experiences. While the self is the person reading this; the consciousness.

Reflect on what makes you bias.
Reflect on the emotions you have; especially the negative.
Reflect on what you attach yourself to naturally.
Most importantly, reflect on what it means to be your'self'

This news article is brought to you by HUNTING - where latest news are our top priority.

Happily Biased

This topic of the optimism bias theory is becoming more popularly discussed in the field of psychology and the sub-fields related. By a quick Google or yahoo search you will find articles from TIME and The Huffington Post, and a TED presentation, all by Tali Sharot. I highly recommend reading and viewing these materials on this topic, because I will not approach this topic as she and many neuroscientist will by looking at statistical data.

My goal in this article is to attempt to dictate that happiness makes us bias, and how optimistic stimuli is extremely difficult to rationalize effectively.

First, in my opinion, statistics cannot help right now in this study of the optimist, but does a small job of pointing us in the right direction. Why? The paradigms revolving around such studies are new, they did not exist before this century. Thus, for those interested in psychology, must philosophize over what makes themselves, in fact, biased. Truly, it is highly likely in their own research of cognitive biases that these researchers are performing the very biases they are cataloging; whether it be in the community or individually. I wish to approach this philosophically while using few terms crafted by contemporary scientist.

The idea of the optimism bias is simple; what are the most important factors for our future happiness depends how our brain will/does construct beliefs, thoughts, and overall the connectivity in relation to those positive stimuli.

The following example for optimism manipulating cognitive abilities will be depicted in a religious practitioner who is active in their religion's community. I will introduce the idea of groupthinking, and will make the argument G.T. is a prime factor in this examples optimistic irrationality. No formal religion is insisted upon in example.

For sake of argument, our practitioner of religion will be Julia, and her religion is Athenianism. Julia is known among her friends, that are not Athenian, that she is very fundamental about her beliefs. In fact, she reads her religious text nightly before bed and volunteers with her fellow Athenians to preach lessons at local colleges every Tuesday. Julia has been part of this religion since she was a child, her parents were fundamental about the practice as well, and most of her friends were apart of the same religion (except those she made in college).

One day a nonreligious person approaches Julia's group while they are preaching in the college's quad. The person claims no one can know, as of this point in time, how the universe and life began. This directly refutes a big part of Julia's religion, and they begin to argue. No need for dialog, but they go at it heavily with all of the common arguments anyone can find that a religious vs. nonreligious person will bring up. Long story short, Julia is not convinced. After hours of arguing, Julia will still not even allow herself to attempt to look at the argument from the other person's perspective. And although the challenger was willing to admit s/he could see where Julia was coming from, Julia refused to give back the same attitude. When finally asked why Julia cannot, just a little, see it from his perspective she responded "I just have faith I am right."

Now, the analysis; that 'faith' is what I had wanted the example to build up to, for good reason. This 'faith' is not created by chance or accident, her fundamental belief or 'faith' has been developed through a variety of stimuli in her life time of developing cognitively. We have her family, religious community, friends and educational materials that all through a life time have created this faith-filled attitude. My biggest point I will try and come back to; to refute all of these groups and educations, even for one moment of an argument, could cause dysphoria to that person, to Julia.

Julia's anxiety of the future is preventing her from ever suggesting she is wrong about her faith. Her developed brain is in part insisting she maintain her faith. She would, in a sense, be telling herself she has been wrong on a multitude of dimensions. Her family is wrong; the people who have raised and loved her, her entire life would have been teaching her lies or misguided truths. Her religious community in which she would have memories of making friends, picnics, charity events, and other fun activities from her childhood. Finally, her education, she has read volumes of books about what she and her family/friends have traditionally believed in as a group. All of these positive experiences are tied to that faith, and if at any point that faith is effected in the negative, Julia can find herself being depressed. (Note: In my opinion, this is perhaps why philosophy circles back to nihilism and existentialism as priority to metaphysical concerns.)

All of these groups and materials being wrong, is unacceptable to Julia and any fundamentalist or at least intensely difficult to conform as being false, if it is in fact false (which is not the point of the example). The point is whether or not a person will even be able to accept they are wrong, or even slightly wrong. The religion as example is easy because that is more casual in our society today, but this faith-like behavior can be seen in a lot of different areas. Sport fans, politics, athletes, artist, and scientific communities even can be very hardheaded when attempting to gain a new perspective on something they hold very fundamentally sound to their practice of science. At any point information challenges what we know or our stability to be happy - we may find our optimism firing into how we should formulate thoughts!

Now, it is not merely just optimism in which prevents a person like Julia to allow herself to approach alternative ideas and ideals when involving her faith. Due to the groups she is associated with through nurture, nature, by chance and by choice, Julia has a lot of even not-so positive stimuli to guide her anxiety of the future (which is her developing cognition). But, rather than talk about pessimism biases, we will discuss what has already been circled around; groupthinking.

Julia is not the only one she shares these fundamental beliefs with, in fact, her knowledge involved in her faith is overlapped heavily by her family, friends, and religious community. Groupthink theory suggest, exactly what it sounds like; we are prone as people to look towards the group for consensus of how to think and behave. If at any point our group is challenged, we become threatened individually as we will identify ourselves with our group or groups.

The bandwagon bias is the same thing as G.T. but I regard the differences as being momentary, rather than constantly effective. "Oh, 2 million people love pizza over tacos, I am going for the pizza!" Is a lame example of bandwagon bias, but, because although that person's taste buds would actually prefer the taco, s/he will go with pizza due to what the group suggestion that it is the best choice.

Take a moment... When have you submitted to the group due to sheer numbers? When have you sided with a group, due to their history of behavior rather than current behaviors of the group? Can you describe a time where the optimism of the group was given to you; to encourage you into following the group or group's ideals?

The groupthought factor, in considering Julia's faith, is immense. Another bias that will be performed due to the optimism and the groupthink, would be the confirmation and belief biases. Rather than get into detail of these biases, I suggest they are vastly similar. Both biases suggest that a person are more likely to accept information that has no conflict with their immediate beliefs systems and knowledge. I add these biases momentarily due to the fact, they assist in future development of the person's psyche. If at any point we become more acceptable to information, purely because no other information we know can conflict with the new data - is irrational. If you do not know anything about the material being told to you, just listen and examine the facts later before conforming to the information.

Consider your idol, inspiration, or respected third party - telling you that there is a new cure for a disease, you begin to report this information to whom will ever listen without ever researching. You are told you are wrong, now, depending on who you are; you will either be fundamental and argue that you are correct due to the fact this person told you, angry if you will -and/or- you will become confused and upset.

I would love to get into how emotional intelligence could be an ample part to this conversation, but I will conclude with a summary and reflection, but suggest to do a little wikipedia search on that new series of theories in cognitive studies; emotional intelligence.

I guess, I wanted to do two things with this paper; 1. I wanted to try and simplify how a person can be completely irrational, but be perfectly content with their lives. 2. The reasoning behind a person being irrational is not just a simple formula or at least it is still not able to become a simple one solution, today. The reasoning is fuzzy, it takes a lot of factors and details that go into what makes someone irrational in order to determine such. But of course the most important concern, that makes any of this even a semi-valid article is to constantly question; what is rational? No bias? One bias? Ten biases? Twenty?

While optimism can make us bias, it can also create the potential for longevity and goal orientation. However optimism does not guarantee tolerance of other people's belief and ideas, so perhaps, in this culture that is in the pursuit of happiness we should be more in the pursuit of questioning happiness.

To end, I would like to make a reflective note:

A mini-theory about attachments: Everyone wants to involve themselves with others - to love, to hate, to teach, to learn from, to pair with, to share with, to honor, to respect... These are attachments, and they are the basis of emotions. This is apart of our mimetic nature; our nature of rerepresenting/copying others in order to create a self identity. But what is the self, because really I would argue, we are two things; a self and a metaself. The metaself is our physiological natures/nurtures and our individualistic psychological experiences. While the self is the person reading this; the consciousness.

Reflect on what makes you bias.
Reflect on the emotions you have; especially the negative.
Reflect on what you attach yourself to naturally.
Most importantly, reflect on what it means to be your'self'

This article is brought to you by MATCHMAKING.

How Can I Be Happy?

People are continuously asking the same question; How can I be happy? What they don't realize is that the answer is quite simple, and it should be.

Why should finding happiness be difficult when the definition includes feeling emotions of positive, pleasant emotions and joy?

Here is a list of 8 simple actions you can do daily to be a happy person.

1. Start your day with positive affirmations.

If you wake up in a bad mood, expect your day to be down in the dumps. The good news is you can change the outcome of your day in an instant, and the sooner the better. Tomorrow morning before you even get out of bed, tell yourself that you are going to have an amazing day. Tell yourself you are going to hear great news all day long. You will be happier all day, just thinking that good things are on the way.

2. Smile, Smile, Smile.

One way to make you feel better inside is to smile. It's simple and it's free. Science proves that is will boost your mood and increase your potential for long term happiness. If you don't smile regularly, force it until it becomes natural. Seriously, try it now, I bet you'll feel better already!

3. Surround yourself with only things you love.

Jot down a list of things that make you feel good inside. Keep this list on you and read it every day. It could consist of music, people, or pets. The options are endless, but only YOU know what makes YOU feel good inside. Once you have your list, try and surround yourself with only those things. Keep the positive energy flowing.

4. Give someone a compliment.

It's human nature to think that receiving a compliment is the best thing for us, but it's actually complimenting others that makes us feel better inside. Complimenting or helping others is where we find true happiness in ourselves. Try to compliment someone at least once a day. You'll be happy knowing you just made their day.

5. Stop complaining. It's bringing you down!

You may not even realize you are doing it. Complaining and whining are constantly bringing your inner emotions down. Instead of asking "Why can't I ever win?" or "Why does this happen to me?", try re-wording it into a positive question. What can I do next time to help me win? What can I do better to make sure this doesn't happen again. Talking negatively will limit your happiness, so learn to speak positive.

6. Act like a child.

Do you remember how it used to feel when you were a kid playing outside? No worries in the world, just enjoying the sunshine on your face running barefoot in the grass. Try to do this more often. We often forget that it's the simple things in life that give us the most happiness.

7. Laugh Often.

Laughter is one of the best feelings in the world. It expresses pure joy. Figure out what makes you laugh the most, and surround yourself with it. It could be a person, or a social environment. Laughing is also important in happy relationships. Stop being so serious all the time!

8. Get a dog or cat, or both.

The amount of joy you will get from a dog or cat is off the charts. You will never feel lonely and they will love you unconditionally. I myself have 2 cats and a puppy. The house is always full of life.

My father convinced himself that he hated cats. Well, that was until my brother rescued and brought a kitten home. It's now his best buddy. He even told my brother that when he moves out, the cat stays.

* * *

I strongly believe these are the most important things you can do on a daily basis to not only increase your happiness, but erase negativity in your life.

Good luck!

How Can I Be Happy?

People are continuously asking the same question; How can I be happy? What they don't realize is that the answer is quite simple, and it should be.

Why should finding happiness be difficult when the definition includes feeling emotions of positive, pleasant emotions and joy?

Here is a list of 8 simple actions you can do daily to be a happy person.

1. Start your day with positive affirmations.

If you wake up in a bad mood, expect your day to be down in the dumps. The good news is you can change the outcome of your day in an instant, and the sooner the better. Tomorrow morning before you even get out of bed, tell yourself that you are going to have an amazing day. Tell yourself you are going to hear great news all day long. You will be happier all day, just thinking that good things are on the way.

2. Smile, Smile, Smile.

One way to make you feel better inside is to smile. It's simple and it's free. Science proves that is will boost your mood and increase your potential for long term happiness. If you don't smile regularly, force it until it becomes natural. Seriously, try it now, I bet you'll feel better already!

3. Surround yourself with only things you love.

Jot down a list of things that make you feel good inside. Keep this list on you and read it every day. It could consist of music, people, or pets. The options are endless, but only YOU know what makes YOU feel good inside. Once you have your list, try and surround yourself with only those things. Keep the positive energy flowing.

4. Give someone a compliment.

It's human nature to think that receiving a compliment is the best thing for us, but it's actually complimenting others that makes us feel better inside. Complimenting or helping others is where we find true happiness in ourselves. Try to compliment someone at least once a day. You'll be happy knowing you just made their day.

5. Stop complaining. It's bringing you down!

You may not even realize you are doing it. Complaining and whining are constantly bringing your inner emotions down. Instead of asking "Why can't I ever win?" or "Why does this happen to me?", try re-wording it into a positive question. What can I do next time to help me win? What can I do better to make sure this doesn't happen again. Talking negatively will limit your happiness, so learn to speak positive.

6. Act like a child.

Do you remember how it used to feel when you were a kid playing outside? No worries in the world, just enjoying the sunshine on your face running barefoot in the grass. Try to do this more often. We often forget that it's the simple things in life that give us the most happiness.

7. Laugh Often.

Laughter is one of the best feelings in the world. It expresses pure joy. Figure out what makes you laugh the most, and surround yourself with it. It could be a person, or a social environment. Laughing is also important in happy relationships. Stop being so serious all the time!

8. Get a dog or cat, or both.

The amount of joy you will get from a dog or cat is off the charts. You will never feel lonely and they will love you unconditionally. I myself have 2 cats and a puppy. The house is always full of life.

My father convinced himself that he hated cats. Well, that was until my brother rescued and brought a kitten home. It's now his best buddy. He even told my brother that when he moves out, the cat stays.

* * *

I strongly believe these are the most important things you can do on a daily basis to not only increase your happiness, but erase negativity in your life.

Good luck!

This article is brought to you by FREE DATING SITES.

Are We Truly Free And Independent?

The dictionary defines "independent" as:

• not influenced or controlled by others in matters of opinion, conduct, etc.; thinking or acting for oneself: an independent thinker.
• not subject to another's authority or jurisdiction; autonomous; free: an independent businessman.
• not dependent; not depending or contingent upon something else for existence, operation, etc.
• not relying on another or others for aid or support.

As I consider this definition, I realize we are not truly independent.

We are regulated by our government. We're influenced by the news media, other people, and television. And while we always have freedom of choice, are we really exercising it on a daily basis?

I would argue that most people tend to follow more than lead.

We've been taught to model others--that's the fastest path to success-instead of being truly independent, finding our own voice, sharing it, and following our own path.

If you're a business owner, you're business is influenced by the economy, the marketplace, and the whims and bank accounts of your clients and prospects. You rely on technology, banks, credit card processors, and website hosting companies to keep your business running smoothly. You may work for yourself but you need other people and services to make your business work.

No, the reality is we are not independent in the most literal sense of the word.

But I'm not sure we would want to be independent in that way.

We need each other to live happy, fulfilling lives.

We need technology to communicate and operate our businesses and to get along in the 21st century.

We rely on others... because most things are easier, or we can do better, with help.

The independence we CAN have.

I believe the independence we can have, and should strive for, is more mental than physical. To think freely and independently and live our lives as we choose. And, to exercise our freedom of choice...

• To choose NOT to follow the masses but instead follow our own path.
• To choose to be happy today instead of buying into all the marketing messages telling us we need more stuff or more money to be happy.
• To choose to be grateful for all that we do have, instead of focusing on what we don't.
• To choose to stop comparing ourselves to others and celebrate our lives, exactly as they are.

Yes, freedom and independence are an inside game.

When we embrace our internal independent self we can mentally free ourselves from the things in this world that make us feel not good enough, or keep us striving for more in order to be happy.

The Declaration of Independence promised us "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." I disagree that happiness is a pursuit. Rather, we all have the choice to be happy right now, exactly where we are. And I believe when you make that choice, you are truly free.

This news article is brought to you by SAVING MONEY - where latest news are our top priority.

Are We Truly Free And Independent?

The dictionary defines "independent" as:

• not influenced or controlled by others in matters of opinion, conduct, etc.; thinking or acting for oneself: an independent thinker.
• not subject to another's authority or jurisdiction; autonomous; free: an independent businessman.
• not dependent; not depending or contingent upon something else for existence, operation, etc.
• not relying on another or others for aid or support.

As I consider this definition, I realize we are not truly independent.

We are regulated by our government. We're influenced by the news media, other people, and television. And while we always have freedom of choice, are we really exercising it on a daily basis?

I would argue that most people tend to follow more than lead.

We've been taught to model others--that's the fastest path to success-instead of being truly independent, finding our own voice, sharing it, and following our own path.

If you're a business owner, you're business is influenced by the economy, the marketplace, and the whims and bank accounts of your clients and prospects. You rely on technology, banks, credit card processors, and website hosting companies to keep your business running smoothly. You may work for yourself but you need other people and services to make your business work.

No, the reality is we are not independent in the most literal sense of the word.

But I'm not sure we would want to be independent in that way.

We need each other to live happy, fulfilling lives.

We need technology to communicate and operate our businesses and to get along in the 21st century.

We rely on others... because most things are easier, or we can do better, with help.

The independence we CAN have.

I believe the independence we can have, and should strive for, is more mental than physical. To think freely and independently and live our lives as we choose. And, to exercise our freedom of choice...

• To choose NOT to follow the masses but instead follow our own path.
• To choose to be happy today instead of buying into all the marketing messages telling us we need more stuff or more money to be happy.
• To choose to be grateful for all that we do have, instead of focusing on what we don't.
• To choose to stop comparing ourselves to others and celebrate our lives, exactly as they are.

Yes, freedom and independence are an inside game.

When we embrace our internal independent self we can mentally free ourselves from the things in this world that make us feel not good enough, or keep us striving for more in order to be happy.

The Declaration of Independence promised us "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." I disagree that happiness is a pursuit. Rather, we all have the choice to be happy right now, exactly where we are. And I believe when you make that choice, you are truly free.

This article is brought to you by FREE DATING SITES.

Sleep: A Simple Tool To Increase Your Happiness

One of the simplest ways to increase the amount of happiness you feel is to get more high-quality sleep. Today, I'll be sharing the science showing why you should give up some of that precious evening time and hit the pillow a little earlier each night.

The research on sleep and mood

If you're human, you've experienced first-hand the crappy days that can result after a poor night's sleep; you're grumpy, spacy, forgetful, annoyed or some combination. Science strongly confirms your experience and shows how sleep deprivation affects mood. For example:

A study from the University of Pennsylvania showed a marked increase in anger, stress, sadness and mental exhaustion in a group that got less than 4.5 hours of sleep a night for a week. There was a dramatic improvement in mood when they resumed a normal sleep schedule.

A large study by Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman showed that:

Increases in sleep quality is associated with very large increases in reported enjoyment in daily activities. A poor night sleep was one of two factors that most upset daily mood at work. (the other, by the way, was tight deadlines) Functional brain studies showed that those who are even moderately sleep deprived are 60% more reactive to negative emotional stimuli. "It's as if the brain is reverting to more primitive behaviors in terms of [the amount of] control they normally have over their emotions" says Richard Walker, the UC Berkeley researcher who headed up the study.

A study out of the University of Michigan showed that an additional hour of sleep had more effect on happiness than a $60,000 raise!

Are you sleep-deprived?

Our go-go-go culture is one where we tend to stay busy and stimulated for hour after hour. It is really easy to adapt to having too little sleep; we just get accustomed to those feelings of tiredness and it becomes our new normal.

But there are some clear indicators when you need more sleep. Ask yourself these questions:

Do you sleep less than 6 hours per night? Do you need an alarm clock to consistently wake up on time? Do you often find yourself 'nodding off' during boring meetings, while watching TV or anytime you are in a quiet space? Do you fall asleep within 5 minutes of going to bed?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are not getting enough quality sleep.

If that's true, what can you do? Set yourself a bedtime

Kids need lots of sleep, so they get a bedtime. But do you do the same for yourself? Waiting until you feel tired makes it easy to get carried away by those shiny distractions - reading one more chapter, watching one more show, sending one last email or finishing one last quest/mission (you know who you are... ).

We manage what we measure. Locking in a bedtime will help you keep that commitment. And if you stay up later, those feelings of being up 'past your bedtime' can often encourage you to get horizontal sooner than otherwise.

This news article is brought to you by HAPPINESS - where latest news are our top priority.