What makes us happy? According to psychologist Professor Ed Diener there is no one key to happiness but a set of ingredients that are vital.
First, family and friends are crucial - the wider and deeper the relationships with those around you the better. It is even suggested that friendship can ward off germs. Our brains control many of the mechanisms in our bodies which are responsible for disease. Just as stress can trigger ill health, it is thought that friendship and happiness can have a protective effect. According to happiness research, friendship has a much bigger effect on average on happiness than a typical person's income itself. One economist, Professor Oswald at Warwick University, has a formula to work out how much extra cash we would need to make up for not having friends. The answer is £50,000. Marriage also seems to be very important. According to research the effect of marriage adds an average seven years to the life of a man and something like four for a woman. The second vital ingredient is having meaning in life, a belief in something bigger than yourself - from religion, spirituality or a philosophy of life. The third element is having goals embedded in your long term values that you're working for, but also that you find enjoyable. Psychologists argue that we need to find fulfilment through having goals that are interesting to work on and which use our strengths and abilities. Unhappiness However, there are also many things we experience in life that can produce lasting unhappiness. Professor Ed Diener identifies two key events which can have lasting effects. After the loss of a spouse it can take several years to regain the previous level of well-being. The loss of a job can affect a person for years even they are back to work. So if you are born grumpy are you always going to be grumpy? The question of whether we can actually use our knowledge of what makes us happy to lift our levels of happiness permanently is hotly debated by psychologists. According to the positive psychologist Professor Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania it is possible to lift our biological set range of happiness, at least to some extent if we work at it. "The best you can do with positive emotion is you can get people to live at the top of their set range. "So I think you've got about 10 to 15% leverage but you can't take a grouch and make him giggle all the time." The first episode of The Happiness Formula was shown on BBC Two at 1900 BST on Wednesday. |  |    Happiness test Take psychologist Professor Ed Diener's test to find out how happy you are WATCH ONLINE  What is happiness? Think yourself happy Politics of happiness Power of happiness The happiness recipe Happiness in Bhutan RELATED BBC LINKS RELATED INTERNET LINKS The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
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How should I not be glad to contemplateDerek Mahon
the clouds clearing beyond the dormer window
and a high tide reflected on the ceiling?
There will be dying, there will be dying,
but there is no need to go into that.
The lines flow from the hand unbidden
and the hidden source is the watchful heart.
The sun rises in spite of everything
and the far cities are beautiful and bright.
I lie here in a riot of sunlight
watching the day break and the clouds flying.
Everything is going to be all right.
The far cities are beautiful and brightPoetry connects us to what is deepest in ourselves. It gives us access to our own feelings, which are often shadowy, and engages us in the art of making meaning. It widens the space of our inner lives, It is a magical, mysterious inexplicable (though not incomprehensible event)in language.
Edward Hirsch
I think we need to make meaning and that we can find fulfilment when we attend to the 'watchful heart' and make space for our inner lives. I am not sure how much space I give to my inner world. I am pretty sure it is not enough and that I suffer the consequences. Even a few moments of contemplation or 'attending to self' can make a difference.
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