3 Seconds Guaranteed to Make You Happier

I’m always excited at the beginning of summer. I love sunshine and warm days, the chance to swim outside and long evenings when it is still light.

I also know that nobody’s summer vacation is going to be perfect. It might rain a couple of days when you want to go to the beach or be stifling hot when you planned to walk around Paris. You’ll get a blister when you’re out hiking and come across too many mosquitoes.

But you can make sure those moments don’t undermine the happy ones.

Most happiness research looks at overall well-being, which is how you describe an event afterwards. The late great behavioral economist and Nobel prize winner Daniel Kahneman said that it’s hard to talk about what makes us happy because there are two different parts of ourselves to please—the experiencing self and the remembering self. The experiencing self takes in everything that happens in the present. The remembering self weaves some small portion of those experiences into memories that become who we are.

Let’s say you go out this summer for a two-hour sail on a beautiful day. The water is sparkling, the wind is gently blowing, and you experience the joy that a perfect day can bring. Then in a sudden gust of wind you get hit by the mast and knocked into the water. Afterwards, you’d no doubt say that the bad ending ruined the whole experience.

But did it? You experienced 120 minutes of happiness along the way. Why does that get forgotten?

Kahneman once described the present moment as lasting for about 3 seconds. That means you experience 20,000 moments in any day.

When you’re in the midst of one of those moments that feels good or happy, stop to appreciate it. Mark it in your memory. Really experience the moment. Whatever happens afterwards, you get to keep that happiness.

Bad moments can become more powerful in our memory than happy ones—unless we actually pause to appreciate and mark the pleasures as we experience them. So do that. Take those happy 3 seconds and focus on them. Tell someone else how much fun you’re having and how good the day feels.

Your remembering self will thank you.

By the way, the endless photos we take on vacation can help keep those happy moments in the forefront—and part of your memory. Keep smiling and snap away.

Remembering summer pleasures in Provence—and looking forward to more

Reasons to be Happy

My book What Your Body Knows About Happiness came out in paperback this month, and it’s been fun traveling around the country and talking about it again. I love how well people respond to message. If you don’t have a copy, please get one now! I think you’ll like it.

The book will give you some great ideas for being happier—so read it on the beach, in the airplane, or curled up on your deck.

Then take 3 seconds to appreciate how happy you are.

Love,

Janice