Living in the moment really does make people happier (or A Wandering Mind Is An Unhappy Mind)
[I was given this article, found in the December 2010 issue of Therapy Today, link, reporting on an article in The Guardian, reporting on an article that appeared in the journal, Science!]
Happiness is found by living in the now, particularly if the now involves having sex, according to a major study into mental wellbeing. But the study also found that people spend nearly half their time (46.7 per cent) thinking about something other than what they are actually doing.
Psychologists at Harvard University collected information on the daily activities, thoughts and feelings of 2,250 volunteers to find out how often they were focused on what they were doing, and what made them most happy. They found that people were happiest when having sex, exercising or in conversation, and least happy when working, resting or using a home computer. And although subjects’ minds were wandering nearly half of the time, this consistently made them less happy. The team conclude that reminiscing, thinking ahead or daydreaming tends to make people more miserable, even when they are thinking about something pleasant.
The authors write in the journal Science: ‘A human mind is a wandering mind and a wandering mind is an unhappy mind. The ability to think about what is not happening is a cognitive achievement that comes at an emotional cost.‘ (See link)
Asked why people seemed to be particularly focused during sex, Matthew Killingsworth, lead author of the study, observed: ‘Sex is one of the few broad categories of activity that requires and perhaps benefits from our full attention.’
More than 5,000 people have signed up for the happiness study. You can take part in the study at: www.trackyourhappiness.org (The Guardian)
I have just experienced the ‘cost’ of my ‘wandering mind’ in a period of physical pain. Struggling to find pain relief for an extremely uncomfortable shoulder/arm my thoughts turned to the future and how I would be able to function, doubting even my ability to cope with the situation/pain.
These thoughts increased the tension in my body, adding more to the heavy load. Making the choice at that point to stop struggling, and allow myself to just ‘ be’ in the ‘moment’ brought about pain relief. I could indeed cope because I was able then to trust God to do what was needed without me needing to control the situation.
Hi Lynne
This is a perfect example to us all of the consequences of trying to escape from the present! Brilliant, thank you. Ian
Hi Ian
Just a line to say how much I enjoy reading your blogs – always stimulating, encouraging and well articulated.
I completed the online survey ‘tracking your happiness’ mentioned in your most recent post. I found it a useful discipline for several weeks to have to stop and answer questions about what I was experiencing in three specific moments each day (different times each day as you can’t predict when the emails will come). And it really did confirm that the more focused I was on what I was doing in the moment, the better I was feeling. Thinking about the past or future meant I didn’t feel so good. I also felt better outside than inside, doing things I wanted to rather than had to do and when having meaningful interactions with others. Of all the times they asked me I felt best when ice skating – outside, exercising, very focussed on what I was doing (so I didn’t fall over!) and interacting with family and friends.
Ali x
Hi Ali, and thanks for your encouraging comments. I too have done the survey, and it is fascinating how being in the present is so linked to our feeling of well-being and happiness. However I wonder what Dorothy Rowe would think (see link). Is it okay to be in the present moment, ie ‘now’, and feel sad? Ian
I wouldn’t like to answer for Dorothy Rowe, though she also speaks of the correlation between living in the present moment and feelings of happiness.
And yes I think it is okay to be in the present moment and feel sad. As Dorothy says, some things just are sad and it seems important to me that we allow ourselves to experience that feeling. Perhaps a lot of our difficulties with long term low mood stem from what seems a cultural impetus not to experience so called ‘negative’ emotions. We so often try to rescue people from feeling sad, angry, downhearted etc and perhaps try to avoid or deny these emotions ourselves. The consequence may be longer term difficulties because we haven’t accepted or experienced the fact that we feel bad. If we allow ourselves to engage with the sadness of a situation in all its manifestations and really feel the emotion (in the present moment) my experience is the feeling will pass sooner or later once it’s found expression.
Ali