REALISTS Dr. David Spiegel says his research shows that breast-cancer victims don’t live significantly longer because of positive support.
AMERICANS are an optimistic, can-do lot. We subscribe to the belief that we have a right to not just pursue happiness, but to be happy. No matter how grim the last year has been, no matter how rotten the economy or one’s own setbacks, people believe it can all change with the flip of the calendar: all you need do is look on the bright side.
Happiness is not just our birthright, it is a growth industry. Beyond the perpetually positive Oprah Winfrey, Tony Robbins and the thinking-makes-it-so gurus behind “The Secret,” the Internet offers many new programs for self-improvement. Happier.com was created in the fall with promises of “scientific solutions for real improvement.” LiveHappy, a $9.99 a month “mobile happiness boosting program,” is based on the book “The How of Happiness” by Sonja Lyubomirsky, a psychology professor at the University of California, Riverside, who says that activities like “envisioning your best possible self” are “scientifically shown” to make people happier.
Is any of this true? Can an optimistic attitude and a will to happiness lead to a better you in the new year?
