Happiness and the Glow Effect

I’m a big fan of Seth Godin.  He’s a prolific writer (his 18 books have been translated into 35 languages), a savvy businessman, and a sought-after consultant. Many business people follow his blog, but if you read it often, you’ll find that it can also serve as a road map for life.

His post the other morning focused on how the brain functions. In “The pleasure/happiness gap,” he explained that while pleasure and happiness feel like the same thing to us, pleasure is a short-term effect that relies on a dopamine drench from receiving. It can be set off by sugar, caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, or even the rush you get from “winning” at electronic video games, by betting, by social media, etc.

Happiness is a long-term effect created by serotonin. You can get that from “a mindful series of choices, most of which have to do with seeking out connection and generosity.” I think about this as “the glow effect”: When you’ve done some of the following things that enrich your life, you’ll feel the glow of happiness:

• Connecting – I have a group of three  close friends with whom I grew up.  We lost contact after high school and recently reconnected through facebook. Every few months, we meet for lunch. Each time we get together, the glow of joy I feel lasts at least the entire week.
• Projects – Find that glow from working on projects that thrill you. Start a new project. (Pinterest or youtube are great resources for this!)  Or try making gifts, instead of buying them. Not only will you feel the glow of giving a gift you created, the recipient will feel the delight of receiving something unique, made especially for them.
• Giving – You can feel a glow from giving to others. When my husband was in the hospital, my friends Hank and Elaine prepared meals so that when I rushed home from ICU, I only needed to heat up their delicious dinner, and my daughters and I could sit down and eat. Since then, I’ve done the same for others, It’s amazing that you feel the glow whether you’re the giver or the receiver.
• Volunteering –  In every community across the U.S., there are hundreds of opportunities to volunteer – from building homes for the homeless, to teaching a class at the local library, and from reading to seniors, to working at a food cupboard. If you love the Arts, most arts organizations value the contribution of volunteering, that you will also enjoy.

 

Written as Editor of BeyondtheNest.com and published in the October 5, 2017 issue.