A Recipe for Happiness
Dear New Graduate,
First of all, congratulations! You’ve made it! And as is traditional, I’ll share my wish for you. It is simply that you will be happy — happy in your personal life, happy in your decision to be a nurse, and happy in your work.
Toward that end I’d like to share what I learned about happiness at a conference of the American Heart Association. Rick Foster and Greg Hicks, authors of the book, How We Choose To Be Happy, were the keynote speakers. They presented what they’ve learned from studying happy people of every socioeconomic level, every geographical region and of every race. The people they studied ranged in age from 16 to 101 and embodied a wide variety of belief systems, religions and family backgrounds. Some were in long-term relationships, others were single. Some were straight, some were gay. Many had children, some did not. What they all had in common was how they integrated nine common choices into their lives and used them consciously to enjoy life to the fullest and to move efficiently through difficulties and trauma.
I believe that if all nurses were to learn to build greater happiness into their lives patients would receive better care and we’d change healthcare institutions for the better. I’m hoping you’ll join with me to be a leader in this change.
So please take a just few more minutes to be a student and read my summary of Foster and Hick’s theory on happiness… I hope it might be relevant to your nursing practice.
First of all, you might ask “What do you mean, happy…”
Foster and Hicks’ definition is this: “True happiness is a profound, enduring feeling of contentment, capability and centeredness.” The happiness they’re talking about is a profound, enduring feeling of contentment, capability and centeredness. It’s a rich sense of well-being that comes from knowing you can deal productively and creatively with all that life offers — both the good and the bad. It’s knowing your internal self and responding to your real needs, rather than the demands of others. And it’s a deep sense of engagement — living in the moment and enjoying life’s bounty.
Foster and Hicks also say, “Happiness is a recipe.” It’s like the chocolate cake your grandmother baked from scratch. It’s made from nine ingredients; each ingredient is in there for a reason. The cake becomes a cake because of the chemical interaction of all the ingredients. If you leave one of them out, the cake won’t turn out to be a cake.
Much like this complex recipe, if we use these nine choices together, they will create the energized, glowing countenance we associate with extremely happy people.
· Intention
· Accountability
· Identification
· Centrality
· Recasting
· Options
· Appreciation
· Giving
· Truthfulness
This is the first installment of a series of six.