Happiness = Happy Age

Every day when the alarm goes off, many of those who have to go to work complain of having to leave the heat of the bed to go and “waste” another day of their lives with a job that many times is not what they would like do in life. Over time the effectiveness and attention decrease, clearly reflected in their performance. Whether for financial reasons, age, lack of time or simply disappointment, we come to believe that it is too late to fight for an ideal, but this does not mean that all is lost.

Living with disappointment

I’m not saying that we go right now and ask to be fired at our work, but I am sure that, somewhere within us, we know that there is something that would motivate us much more to wake up each morning. Perhaps what some call a frustrated profession is the spark that is missing in our lives to fill a gap that sometimes we have to leave empty because of the repression marked by a robotic society, where every day to choose a profession the first thing you look at is the long-term benefit and not the personal satisfaction of oneself.

Is this why recent studies have found that children laugh an average of 300 times a day and an adult just over 20?

What is under the happiness of children

But how is this possible if as adults we have the opportunity to soak up everything we like every day? Whether it’s going to the movies, reading a good book, taking that dream trip, giving us a massage or a good dinner, cooling off with a soft breeze while driving that car from the ad … We have the option of doing what we want, but not even with all that we we laugh more than a child who surely doesn’t even know what he wants.

Could the reason for his laughter be linked to the complete ignorance that was once gifted to us with innocence? The answer is a resounding yes! Children are not aware of what tomorrow is, they live every moment and they do it intensely. That is why they laugh!

In a study carried out with people between 19 and 94 years old, it was found that older people were more positive about the problems that happened in their lives. And they gave more value when saying goodbye to their partner with a kiss than with the simple “see you later” of 30 years ago. What is the cause of that?

In both cases, it is a matter of age. In childhood we do not know what is to come, and with old age we learn to be more realistic and to set achievable goals, concentrating only on what makes us happy.

Volunteering, a way to feel useful and help others

So today, if we can’t afford to change jobs doing only what we love, why not do it “altruistically”? According to the conclusion of a scientific research, published in ‘BMC Public Health’, volunteering has health benefits. Specifically, this practice helps improve mental health and live longer.

Some of the data indicate a 20 percent difference in mortality between volunteers and non-volunteers. Some volunteers also reported low levels of depression and increased satisfaction with their lives and the well-being they feel. Although the mechanisms by which this practice improves well-being so much are not clearly understood, some think that the physical improvement, for example, could be explained by the fact that volunteers spend more time away from home, but consider that the causes in in terms of mental health, they could be more complex.

However, it is very possible that the improvement in well-being has to do with the fact that everything we do with pleasure gives us pleasure, and this is highly linked to happiness. The truth is that when we are trapped in the routine of our day to day, it is often difficult for us to realize all the opportunities we have in our day to day to enjoy and lead a life with more meaning. Volunteering is one of the easiest options to start improving our levels of joy.

So if right now you don’t even know where to start looking for your dreams, you just have to think about what you are passionate about and what your imagination does and your desire to move. Within the field of volunteering, there are many options:

– Volunteering for children, youth, family and seniors.
– Cultural: elements such as social art, design, music or dance.
– Volunteering for health.
– Social: responsible consumption, development cooperation, ethnic minorities, human rights, women, immigration, refugees, people with disabilities, addictions, people in prison …
– Technological volunteering.
– Environment or animal protection.
– Volunteering related to sports.

Of course, volunteering is not the only option available to improve your happiness levels. In general, learning to put more passion into what we do will have a significant impact on our well-being. This can be achieved, for example, by practicing disciplines such as  mindfulness or meditation, which improve our mental disposition almost automatically.