Mindfulness For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 11

Discovering Greater Happiness

In This Chapter

Exploring happiness

Linking mindfulness with positive psychology

Finding meaning in your life

Discovering ways of boosting creativity

I’d just started my career. I had a job with a proper salary going straight into my bank account – much more money than any pocket money or student loan I’d received. The feeling was exhilarating: I’d made it! All those years at school, all those exams at university, slogging away, and now I’d made it. Now what? Spend it of course, I thought. So I went out and spent it. A new car, clothes, the latest gadgets and gizmos – and yet the pleasure was short lived. Before long, that sense of emptiness I’d unconsciously been running from returned. Something was missing. Chasing after stuff wasn’t the way to happiness, even though the whole of society seemed to advertise that it was. My search for real and lasting happiness began.

This chapter explores the relationship between the science of happiness (positive psychology) and the art of mindfulness. By applying the findings of what makes a happy life ...