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- Author, Drafting
- Author’s title, BBC Future
It is a question that we ask ourselves many times … and for which we often do not have a clear answer.
Is to live without worries? Or is it living quiet despite the problems that they afflict us?
The truth is that some people seem predetermined to be happier than others.
But you are the type of person who sings in the shower and dances in the rain, or you have a tougher and little pessimistic personality, that idea of happiness is not something that will simply happen to us.
We can all change our habits to attract more of that well -being to our lives.
For that reason, here you can find some tips that may be useful to be happier in 2025
1. embrace friendship as we get older
Friendship benefits people in all ages, but in adulthood it can become an important source of happiness.
While old people tend to limit their social connections to spend time with people who know better, researchers on the subject point out that it is a good idea to be open to forge new friendships, because that gives us a different benefit to relationships with The family, which may be based on obligation.
As friendship is voluntary, non -mandatory relationships can begin and end at any time, so they can be more fun and less tense.

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Although adults face obstacles that can make new people difficult, in a way it should be easier to make friends: our personality is more mature, we have won the ability to socially relate, our life perspective is oriented more towards the search of joy and we tend to become more pleasant.
And the effort to maintain quality friendships while we age is worth it, since the benefits go beyond psychological well -being.
This also improves our cognitive functioning and physical health.
In fact, research repeatedly indicates that friendship is a factor as important as the family when predicting good mental health when we age.
And if you are the type of person to whom you make it difficult to make friends, a advice that can help: it may be good The US length, as a way of feeling close to those around you while positive emotions are shared.
2. Practice “confelicity”
Compassion is a well -established pillar of true friendship.
The word, which comes from the Latin word “shared pain”, shows us that empathy helps us form strong connections when our friends need help.
But there is an opposite emotional state that is less known and equally important: “confelicity.”
That word means “shared happiness” and is an undervalued facet of good relationships that can be as important as compassion to maintain friendship, according to several studies.
Enthusiastly support the good news of our friends – and ask about it – is the basis of being a good friend. Responding passively or not actively assessing your friend’s success can put those relationships at risk.

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3. Make a volunteer
It is almost a cliché to say that doing something for another person can make you feel better than giving you a personal taste. But the more we know of altruism, the more it seems that this cliché is very true.
In fact, scientific studies have found that volunteering can even help with a series of conditions such as chronic pain and depression.
In 2002, a study found that voluntary people suffering from chronic pain and who were assigned to help other people experienced less intensity while served as volunteers.
Other studies have shown that animal care can improve our health and take care of plants can bring us well -being, especially in older adults.
Some doctors now recipe volunteering as an effective form of “social prescription”: medical prescriptions that connect people with resources and activities in the community in which they live.
Send people to do everything from art classes to cycling groups, or encourage them to participate in activities to help other people needed to be valid health interventions that can also help reduce pressure on the services of health.
4. Connect with your ancestors
There is another way for the past to help you in the present.
Several studies suggest that relating to our ancestors can have deep psychological benefits.
Knowing family stories about how adversity was overcome, for example, it can be empowerment when the stories go from one generation to another.
Susan M. Moore – emerita program of psychology at the University of Swinburne, in Australia – has found that people who know about their family history have higher levels of satisfaction and mental well -being.
Putting into the task of investigating the family tree can help to have the feeling of being in control of one’s life, in addition to favoring a greater understanding of your place in the world.
You can also give you a sense of perspective and gratitude: knowing that your current life has been possible because of the battles and achievements of your predecessors.

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5. Write a list
To count the blessings and favors received is an old advice and is based on a simple but well proven intervention.
It happens that when we write a list of three things that have happened to us can help us improve our humor.
Either an event that has changed our lives, such as spending an important exam or having a baby, or something lighter like being of chance With an old friend or enjoy a beautiful moment like the light of sunset.
There are more and more research that indicates that making a list of such things can improve our well -being.
6. Look for fun activities
They say that there is nothing better than handling for an idyllic stage: the wind in your hair, the ideal music on the radio, the freedom of the road in front of you.
Well, now we know that even rats can enjoy in part of this vehicular paradise, after researchers from the University of Richmond, in Virginia, taught a group of rodents to handle small plastic cars in the laboratory.
The rats learned this new ability and soon began to ride the cars with great enthusiasm, as prepared for the next trip.
Eventually the researchers noticed that some rats gave small jumps as a sample of excitation, for manifesting in advance the pleasure of that trip.
This led to a new research field. Can the expectation of fun be as satisfactory as the activity itself?
In another experiment, scientists trained some rats to wait for rewards, while others were given a compensation immediately.
Later, they evaluated the optimism of the rats and discovered that those that had been trained to wait rewards were more optimistic.
The researchers speculated that this could also work in humans: by routinely anticipating pleasant activities or events, we could reschedule our brains to be more optimistic.

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7. Do nothing
If you have arrived here on the list, the advice that follows can be something unexpected.
But research suggests that worrying too much about being happy can actually be an obstacle to being.
The experiments that prepared people to desire greater happiness before watching an edifying or optimistic film ended up feeling more disappointed than euphoric after the film.
The theory is that, by increasing their expectations and devoting themselves to reading and informing about the importance of happiness, people may really experience the opposite effect and feel discouraged.
You may have experienced this during a great event or party that you were looking forward to and that it did not live up to those expectations.
Iris Mauss, a psychologist at the University of California in Berkeley, has already shown that desire and the search for happiness can also increase feelings of loneliness and disconnection.
She recommends adopting a more stoic attitude and accepting that life in the end is made of ups and downs.

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