14.The secret of true happiness

MODULE 12

TOPIC 14.

THE SECRETS OF TRUE HAPPINESS

1. Look at the photo.

1. Would you say this glass is half empty or half full?

2. Do you think your answer reflects your character? How?

2. Look at the title of the article and discuss the questions.

1. What do you think are “the secrets of true happiness”?

2. Is it possible to learn how to be happy?

3. Skim the text. (Ignore the gaps at this stage.) What answers does the article give to the questions in task 1?

A happy nature is a gift we all wish we’d been born with. Everybody knows someone with this gift: the cheerful type of person with a positive attitude who will always say a glass is half full rather than half empty. It’s a person who is not easily putt off when things go wrong and who appears to lead a happier life as a result. Such people may be healthier too, since there seems to be a link between happiness and good health. But what is the secret of happiness? And how can we achieve it?

Psychologists define this feeling of well-being as “when thoughts and feelings about one’s life are mainly positive”. The key seems to be contentment with what you already have, emotionally, materially and professionally. The more people try to keep up with others, for example, the more likely they are to be dissatisfied with life. 1 _________.

David Lykken, Professor of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, is a leading specialist in happiness. As a result of studying 300 sets of twins, he now believes that happiness is more than 50 percent genetically determined. He also believes that we each have our own fixed “happiness points”, a level we always return to, whatever happens to us in life. 2 _____________.

But does this mean we are stuck with the level of happiness we were born with? Dr Michael Isaac, a psychiatrist, believes this is not necessarily the case. This is because although a person’s temperament is not easily changed, their character can be. The former determines what kind of things will make someone happy, but not how much pleasure that person obtains from them. 3 __________. This is why Dr Isaac believes we need to study happy people and learn how to be like them.

4 __________. They also tent to be interested in things other than themselves. This could be through their day-to-day work, for example, or to by caring for others less fortunate, or by having some kind of spiritual focus to their life.

Happy individuals also tend to relate to other people and are able to give and receive affection. 5 ____________. They are, therefore. More likely to belong to things like sports teams, choirs and political parties. Researches at Harvard University have found that people involved in such activities were happier than those who were not, and that this had nothing to do with how well-off people were financially.

Another factor in happiness appears to be physical activity. Exercise improves a person’s mood and gets rid of tension. But there must be a balance between activity and rest, because stress results in unhappiness. 6 __________.

But mental activity can be just as important. Psychologists believe it’s possible to train yourself to recognize happiness and, therefore, fell the benefits of it more often. 7 ___________. One way of doing this is to set yourself the task of noticing, say, five different moments in the day. The more you recognize when there’s a decision to be made about how you feel, the better you’ll become at choosing happiness over misery, it is claimed.

4. Read the text again. Eight sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-H the one which fits each gap (1-7). There is one extra sentence, which you do not need to use.

1. That’s why being pert of a social group, such as a family, a community or a club adds to their overall sense of well-being.

2. Such people, for example, seem to find satisfaction in activities which are meaningful and give a feeling of personal achievement.

3. The latter develops in response to the experiences a person has during his or her life.

4. There will always be someone else with more than you, so trying to compete can often lead to frustration and anxiety.

5. To avoid this, it is important to pick a sport or activity you enjoy and which you do when you want to, rather than when you think you should.

6. In other words, no matter how happy or unhappy an individual event may make us, this is just a temporary state.

7. The key, apparently, is not taking your feeling for granted, but rather learning to celebrate them.

8. Other scientists, however, maintain that happiness is not so difficult to achieve.

5. Discussion.

1. What did you find most interesting about the article? From your own experience, is there anything you strongly agree or disagree with?

2. What advice in the article do you think you would like to try?

TEXT 2

ACTIONS FOR HAPPINESS

How to be happy

1. Explain the meaning of the following words:

At hand, raise awareness of, a target, an aim, trust, to erode, a bond, family ties, civic responsibility, to set goals, to stick to, to encourage

2. Read the text.

How happy are you? According to recent surveys, the number of British people who claim to be happy is extremely low. But help is at hand. A movement called “Action for Happiness” has been launched to raise awareness of the problem and to try to make people happier. The Dalai Lama (the spiritual leader of Tibet) has given his support to the campaign, And British Prime Minister, David Cameron, has made “happiness” a target for government policy.

One of the founders or the movement is Anthony Weidon. He's the headmaster of Wellington College, a famous private school in the UK. In 2006, he introduced “well-being” lessons in school. The aim was to help students avoid unhappiness later in life. So, what does Action for Happiness see as the keys to happiness? Top of the list is trust. If people trust one another, they say, society is likely to be happier. However, Action for Happiness warns that only 30% of Britons feel that they can trust one another; a drop from 60% half a century ago.

Action for Happiness are also pro-family. They believe that the way traditional family been eroded in Britain is one reason for British people's lack of happiness. The movement wants to create stronger bonds between family members, copying the strong family ties that often exist in Mediterranean countries. They're also procommunity, believing that people need to develop a sense of civic responsibility.

Action for Happiness also want to promote a sense of self-responsibility, encouraging people to live healthier lives, and to avoid smoking, drugs, and heavy drinking. Apart from that, they've published their 10 key steps to becoming happier. Here they are:

1. Giving – do things for others (voluntary work, charity work, etc.).

2. Relating – connect with people (get back in touch with old friends, etc.),

3. Exercising – play sport and take care of your body.

4. Appreciating – notice your local environment (take an interest in the wildlife where you live, etc.).

5. Trying out – acquire new skills (learn a language, take up a new hobby, etc.).

6. Direction – set yourself goals and stick to them.

7. Resilience – learn from failure and do better next time.

8. Emotion – focus on the positive rather than the negative.

9. Acceptance – be comfortable with who you are; learn to like yourself.

10. Meaning – join a club or society and become part of a bigger group.

It remains to be seen whether Action for Happiness can encourage people to change the way they live and become any happier!

3. Find other tips how to be happy and discuss them in group.

4. Summarize information from both texts and prepare a retelling.

5. Prepare an instruction how to be happy (key-pictures, presentation).