Happiness, our own and that of others, is the goal of ethical behavior.   The Utilitarian definition of goodness as that which brings happiness succinctly expresses the powerful simplicity of this quintessential experiential duality.  Social scientists have studied happiness comprehensively for forty years, yet have not arrived at an answer to how best and most simply to achieve happiness.   Such a “key” to happiness would certainly be a great good, and perhaps the highest good save one; happiness itself, as Aristotle professed.

 

            In the Jewish tradition, Moses is considered both the greatest prophet and the humblest person who has ever lived.  Jewish teaching also informs us that he was fully aware of both of these qualities in himself.  I relate this knowledge to preface a humble attempt at presenting a simple key to happiness, and a very great good.

 

            Norman Vincent Peale popularized the “Power of Positive Thinking” with his book bearing that title.   A New Zealand Psychologist named Shelly Lichter put this concept of positive thinking to the test in an experiment that called upon subjects to recite positive affirmations for ten minutes each morning as a strategy by which to become happier.  Her subjects became twenty-five percent happier in two weeks, and in 1980 Dr. Lichter published her results in The New Zealand Psychologist.

 

            During the last year and a half, I conducted a series of happiness increase experiments that applied the above theory and findings via a tape recorder, and found that by simply smiling and listening to my own voice reciting statements like “I am very happy,”  I was able to quite effortlessly become substantially happier.  Recently, I abandoned the second component of that method for one requiring much more effort, however much more simple and effective, and so theoretically powerful that I sincerely believe I have discovered the secret and key to happiness.

 

            The foundation for the first component of my method was empirically presented by psychologist James Laird in 1974.   Dr. Laird proved that simply smiling can cause one to feel happier.  While in 1984 he reported that this phenomenon holds true for only one half of the population, he theorized that such a conditioned response could be learned by the other half.  So, the first part of this key to happiness is simply to smile as often as possible.

 

            During every waking moment, human beings feel, and very many of these feelings are the direct effect of the thoughts that precede them.  Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck developed from this understanding science’s most effective treatment for depression; cognitive therapy.  Our thoughts are the aspect of our reality that most directly and most powerfully make us afraid, angry, sad, and, of course, happy.

 

            Regrettably,  the vast majority of our thoughts are not under our conscious and direct control.  Throughout our days, a continuous stream of thoughts enter our consciousness.   Most seem to come uninvited.  We welcome those that bring happiness, and suffer those that do not.

 

            As we all know, we do, however, have the ability to consciously choose our thoughts.  I have recently experimented with consciously creating an ongoing stream of pleasant thoughts like “I feel wonderful…I am very lucky…I love people” at  various times during the day when circumstances allow, and have found this simple practice to be extremely effective at creating pleasant feelings.  Moreover, I have found that these feelings extend into moods that last for hours, and that by spending a total of an hour or two each day consciously creating these pleasant thought streams I have in a matter of several weeks become much happier.  So, the second part of this key to happiness is to practice creating a continuous stream of pleasant thoughts as often as circumstances allow.  The more one practices consciously willing pleasant thoughts rather than passively receiving whatever thoughts happen to come to one’s mind on their own, the better one will become at both creating these pleasant thoughts and experiencing the pleasant feelings they cause.

 

            Although my personal experimentation has been too brief to offer a definitive conclusion, it seems reasonable to expect that after a certain amount of practice consciously creating pleasant streams of thought (perhaps several hundred hours), one will substantially replace the habitual nature of ones previous less pleasant automatic stream-of-thought tendency with a more pleasant automatic stream-of-thought tendency.  It would also seem reasonable to expect that the more one practices, the faster, stronger and more automatic one’s increased happiness will be felt.

 

            Thus, it appears that the key to happiness is nothing more complicated or difficult than smiling and, as much as one’s circumstances and motivation allow, practicing the conscious and continuous creation of pleasant thoughts.  Theoretically, this method is perhaps the most simple and effective manner of accessing and increasing happiness possible, and what now remains to be determined seems what specific kinds of thoughts (love, appreciation, etc) most effectively create one’s pleasure and lasting happiness.