Hope and Mindfulness as Correlates of Happiness

Abstract

In the modern era we find stress in every sphere. The reason behind this is one's hectic schedule due to which he/she doesn't have time to stop and truly pay attention to what he/she is or doing. The main cause of stress is this hectic life is busyness. So learning how to become optimistic, more attentive, conscious and mindful to his/her daily activities may increase his/her enjoyment of those activities. Being happy is of great importance to most people, and happiness has been found to be a highly valued goal in most societies (Diener, 2000). Happiness, in the form of joy, appears in every typology of basic human emotions. Feeling happy is fundamental to human experience, and most people are at least mildly happy much of the time (Diener & Diener, 1996). Happiness is a mental state of emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy, which are the characteristics of well-being. People commonly strive for happiness but sometime it seems out of reach for some people. Friendships, strong marriages, spirituality, family ties, and self-esteem, happiness is determined by their help (Morris, 2001). Finding goals is needed for people that reflect their values and interests. Person's well-being is liftedby goal achievement. People should explore the things which make them happy. Happiness brings laughter. To achieve the ultimate goal to happiness one should accept the things and change those with good and things (Morris, 2001 ).Argyle, Martin, and Crossland (1989) believe that happiness is composed of three related components- affects, absence of negative affects and satisfaction with life as a whole. The successful pursuit of happiness is vital to our life satisfaction. Merely living accumulated moments of pleasure is not happiness. On the other hand, happiness is a long lasting experiential pleasure of life; it is to love what you are living. It is one's reward for achieving a good virtue and personal rational values viz. friendship, romance, a productive career, hobbies etc. in life. (Brodaty etal., 2013) explored conceptions of the elements or ingredients that lead to long-lasting happiness. The findings supported the notion that relationships are necessary' for happiness.Hope usually shows an expectance of success in chasing desired goals. This goal-orinted is partitioned into two components, First, it is believed by the people that they are competent enough to come up with the roads to desired goals. This is called pathways thinking. Second, when people believe that they have the requisite motivations to actually use such routes, this is called agency thinking. To hope is to have both the will (agency) and the ways (pathways) to pursue desired goals. According to Snyder (2000), hope has three necessary ingredients: goal-oriented thoughts, pathways to achievement of those goals and agency thoughts directed to goal achievement. Snyder and colleagues have mentioned (Snyder, Cheavens, & Micheal, 1999), hope as a motivational concept but clearly has a strong cognitive component. Pathways consists of the strategies needed to achieve a goal and agency considers self-efficacy and personal motivation necessary components of hope (Kemer & Atik, 2012).Nelson, Roberts, and Snyder (2010) made a study on eighty-nine early adolescents for perceptions of hope, exposure to violence, and perceived vulnerability' to victimization. They found the presence of high hope, together with a high degree of exposure to violence. In result they reported that the highest levels of hope were reported by those who had witnessed violence but not experienced it personally ; those with the greatest exposure to violence predicted their own death wouldbe violent.Ciarrochi et al. (2007) made a study and examined the distinctiveness of three positive thinking variables viz. attribution style, trait hope and self-esteem, in predicting future high school grades, students' reports of their affective states and teacherrated adjustment. …