The Pursuit of Happiness

Do you know that there is a direct link between an individual's happiness and a specific genetic condition? Have you ever asked yourself what determines how you often feel about life?
More likely than not, you may not have found the answer to those questions. There is quote that says "our lives are a reflection of the decisions we make and that goes a long way in defining our own lives and perspective towards life." The decisions we take and make will determine the quality of life we live and that gives us a definition of our own lives each day. Another question is: do you know your feelings are in connection with our individual happiness?
This question seems to be giving hint to the answer to the first question and the answer to it is 'yes'. Our feelings are in connection with our individual happiness and this also is associated with a specific genetic condition.
Shortly before proceeding further, I will define happiness according to some people who have the understanding the connection and the links of the answer above. According to Aristotle, "happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence." According to psychologists, happiness comes down to the number of positive and negative moments that we experience. These two definitions give a clearer picture about how an individual's happiness is associated with the way he/she feels.
Recently it has been discovered by a group of researchers led by Barbara L. Fredickson, a distinguished professor of Psychology in the college of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina that there is a biological influence of two forms of happiness through the human genome. Moreover philosophers have long distinguished tow basic forms of well being-
The Eudaimonic wellbeing- the type of happiness associated with having a deep sense of purpose and meaning in life'.
The Hedonic wellbeing- the type of happiness associated with individual's pleasurable experience.
These varying biological effects of other hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing use a gene expression profile known as Conserved Transcriptional Response to Adversity (CTRA). The CTRA is a shift associated with an increase of inflammation and a decrease in antiviral activities with the genes, showing us that:
•High levels of eudaimonic well being brings low levels of inflammatory gene expression and exhibited a strong expression of antiviral and antibody genes.
•High levels of hedonic wellbeing brings high inflammation and low antiviral antibody expression.
The importance of knowing this is to tell us that doing good and feeling good have very different effects most importantly on the human genome, even though they generate similar levels of positive emotions.
In conclusion, always make sure you are adding meaning to yourself and the society. The more meaning that you add to yourself the more meaning you can give to your society. On a final note, you do not only profit the society by doing this but yourself inclusively.

Flourish 

Aanu Owolabi alias Flourish is a 400 level student of the department of Biochemistry, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State. She is a passionate believer in people's capacity to improve their lives and helps them to do so.