Psychology used to be about curing the mentally sick: treating mental illness, or at least providing some type of remedy for the chronic case of the blues, unhappiness, or anxiety. Things have now begun to radically change in psychology. In the last ten years, pioneers in psychology, such as Martin Seligman (Authentic Happiness, 2004) and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Flow, 2008) have advanced a new type of psychology known as Positive Psychology. Instead of trying to cure what’s wrong, Positive Psychology focuses on enhancing our personal and collective assets, talents, and abilities--helping us foster, and increase, our psychological levels of creativity, spontaneity, compassion, humor, love, joy, zest, curiosity, resilience, and so on.

With this new focus on finding, and enhancing, our positive psychological traits, we are no longer stuck in that “poor me” mentality that tells us we will never improve our mental or psychological states of mind. Positive Psychology teaches us that we have the ability to truly foster our greatness, or, as I call it, “our invincibility”--to be the best, healthiest, most successful, and happiest people we can possibly be on earth.

Here are some remarkable findings from Positive Psychology that shatter the long-help myths about mental health and psychological wellness:

1. MYTH: MOST OF THE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD ARE UNHAPPY BECAUSE OF WARS, CRIME, ECONOMIC PROBLEMS, OPPRESSION, NEGATIVE PEOPLE, LOUSY UPBRINGINGS, BAD NEWS, FAULTY THINKING, ETC.

RESEARCH TRUTH 1: LONG-TERM STUDIES INDICATE THAT UP TO 80% OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION HAS A HAPPINESS SET POINT, A GENETICALLY PRESET LEVEL OF HAPPINESS--RANGING FROM MILDLY HAPPY TO EXTREMELY HAPPY--REGARDLESS OF THEIR EXTERNAL CIRCUMSTANCES.

RESEARCH TRUTH 2: IT’S THE OTHER 20% OF THE WORLD THAT’S UNHAPPY, AND DOES ALL OF THE BITCHING, MOANING, AND COMPLAINING.

RESEARCH TRUTH 3: IF YOU ARE IN THE BOTTOM 20% ON THE HAPPINESS SCALE--NEUTRAL, MILDLY UNHAPPY, OR VERY UNHAPPY--THEN THERE ARE 3 REASONS (ASIDE FROM GENETICS) WHY YOU’RE UNHAPPY, AND 3 WAYS TO FIX IT.

2. MYTH: IF YOU ARE SUCCESSFUL, YOU WILL BE HAPPY.
RESEARCH TRUTH REVERSAL: IF YOU ARE HAPPY, YOU WILL BE SUCCESSFUL: YOU WILL THEN ENJOY THE GOODIES OF LIFE: LOVE, MONEY, CAREER, AND HEALTH.

3. MYTH: POSITIVE EMOTIONS MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD FOR THE MOMENT, THEN THEY GO AWAY.

RESEARCH TRUTH: POSITIVE EMOTIONS HELP YOU BUILD LONG TERM COGNITIVE, EMOTIONAL, AND PHYSICAL RESOURCES--MAKING YOU SMARTER, MORE CREATIVE, MORE SUCCESSFUL, HEALTHIER, MORE LOVING, AND, OF COURSE, HAPPIER.

It’s true: You can transform your Emotional DNA--your genetically influenced emotional level of well-being. Although you have a genetically built-in set level of happiness or positive emotions, you can also enhance and maintain positive emotional state of mind.

You can, for example, meditate in a peaceful and quiet setting, express loving compliments to strangers and friends, and keep a gratitude journal in which you write down all of the wonderful things you are happy about today. In this way, you will generate more positive daily emotions, which, in turn, will empower your long-term success: The happier you feel on a daily basis, the more successful you will be, in every facet of your life, including your relationships, finances, health, friendships, career, and even your ability to live a longer life.

I’m now conducting a Positive Emotions study that will further document this phenomena known as Emotional DNA Transformation. There are rewards available for your participation. If you are interested, please contact Dr. Alexander Avila at lovetype4u@aol.com.

Let your feelings be your guide.