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.

Habits for Successful Living

A habit is a pattern of behaviour that has become largely unconscious as a result of its consistency in occurrence. It is created in order to solve the brain's problem of having to re-learn doing the usual and mundane every time. According to Stephen R. Covey, author of the bestselling book '7 habits of Highly Effective People', he defined a habit has an intersection of knowledge, skill and desire. Knowledge refers to the awareness of behaviour, skill is acting out that behaviour and desire is the emotional display of the need to carry out the behaviour. In other words, a habit is composed of cognitive, behavioural and affective parts. For instance is the habit of listening to another when in a conversation, a person has to first become aware of the need to listen to other people more often and share his opinion less often, then he has to learn the skill of listening and finally there needs to be the motivation to do so. Habits are learned over a period of time, and they are also unlearned over a period of time. Habits are unconsciously learned but consciously unlearned. To change a bad habit a person has to replace it with a good one. The process may be herculean but it is possible to become a better person by working hard at winnowing out the bad habits and planting good ones. Just like it may take a long while for the Chinese Bamboo tree to sprout, it also may take time for a good habit to be developed but when it does it produces far outstanding results than can ever be imagined. But like most things, all habits start from somewhere. Habits for successful living have to first begin small, and then be nurtured daily and consistently. One may be tempted to get discouraged and eventually throw in the towel, but it is only the victorious in life that are celebrated, not the loser that gave in a few yards from the breast tape that will declare him a winner.
What are the habits for successful living?
•Living with a sense of purpose and direction.
•Constantly depending upon the help of God.
•Being a keen listener.
•Exercising daily and eating balanced meals.
•Reading soul enriching books, listening to audio programs/messages, attending seminars and conferences.
•Having a study schedule and sticking with it.
•Being concerned about the welfare of friends and associates e.g classmates, colleagues at work, church members etc.
•Apologizing when you are wrong.
•Strong belief in your dreams and goals and the pursuit of them.
•Finding what your skills, gifts, talents and interests are and developing them.
•A sense of humour in everything.
•Starting your day early.
•Feeling good every day, no matter what may happen.
•Taking ten minutes of solitude alone each day to reflect.
•Giving to others in need.
•Speaking positive words of affirmation to yourself.
•Staying in touch with family and friends at home.
•Keeping a pen and a pad handy everywhere.
•Saying only the good or nothing at all about others in their absence.
•Being yourself!
•Learning to use the word 'No'.
•Gaining new experiences by trying out something new every day.
•Meditating on the Holy Scriptures.
•Starting a conversation.
•Being flexible with set goals by adjusting them from time to time as reality dawns.

Hope this article was helpful. If it wasn't please let us know by indicating your comment below, thanks!

Seeps from my Mental Circuits

''OAU says No!'' was the anthem of students of Obafemi Awolowo University months ago until they started saying ''OAU says Yes!'' after getting bored at home for two months. As if the erstwhile ASUU strike was not enough, we were sent packing again for trying to stand up to our rights- the right to say no to financial injustice and the right to stand against economic rape on the maiden of public education and the legacy of chief Obafemi Awolowo whom this citadel of learning was named after.
It's the fifth week of resumption and i bound to write my first test and begin work on my final year research project work. When i compare my lecture timetable with that of my colleagues from other departments in the faculty, i am baffled with the passion and energy my lecturers put in delving out the knowledge of Psychology and the consistency they show in turning up for lectures. From Monday to Thursday we are moving about, from SSLT1 to Law 209. Gradually the time draws nigh for me to say my goodbyes to sitting in lecture halls and running helter skelter on top Assignment issues.
As much as many of us final year students are enthusiastic about graduating, i believe we should not miss the wonderful benefits that still accrue us of being undergraduates. Thanks to the previous incessant strikes, many of us have 'seen things' outside of the university environment and have created plans for a great future post graduation. The benefits from still being an undergraduate should be maximized to the apex of utility in order to have a complete tertiary education experience. Out of such includes creating a social network of contacts, learning skills such as graphic designing, website development and java programming, participating in extracurriculars (not necessarily sports) towards planning of initiatives and events etc. The list is literally endless. The point is to use what you have now to get what you want.
''It's not what you don't have that limits you, it's what you have but don't know how to use.''-Steve Harris
Your Life Coach
Oluwatobi O. Gbemisola

My Experience as OAU Resumes

“…but I went immediately into Arabia…then after three years…”
-Apostle Paul
For two months I have been at home. Doing what? Well, a lot of things. Like what? I can’t say all but for the purpose of this piece the bottom-line of all my activities centered on one thing-self discovery. And this for me is the best thing I have done for myself in a long time. I initially had the intention of going to Lagos to get a good job to ‘pay my bills’ but to no end was I able to fulfill that desire. But I found something better as I then decided to spend time with family, get closer to God, read books, listen to the political side of radio and write articles. Each activity engaged in for that time span have greatly shaped my existence to give me a deeper sense of purpose, making me see life as a most valuable teacher. Some folks from my school may have used the period to learn a skill or two which is a fantastic initiative but to make a self evaluation and to use that knowledge, for me is a nobler act.
The great apostle went into the obscurity of Arabia for three years to prepare for what lied ahead of his ministry, after receiving the insight of his life purpose. He sacrificed those years to stay out of the limelight until he had gotten it figured out. Now he might not have gotten all the answers that he was seeking, but he invested that time in ‘digging in the stakes’ that would define his ministry experience. Therefore when the tough times came tumbling down on him like a pack of bricks, he was ready.
When my brother told me that the school shutdown was a ‘blessing in disguise’, I looked at him with an expression of ‘what did you say?’ Two months down the line, I can say he was right and I was wrong. Life has its way of twisting to fit the plans of Providence. Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.* Much of such twists and turns may be inconvenient but, they are for the better. The years of writing UTME repeatedly, the years of childlessness in marriage, the shutdown of school a few months to graduation-are all workings of something bigger than all the plans you may have, acts of a God behind the scenes. Only learn to trust and obey.
* Prov 19:21
Please feel free to drop your comments. They are most valuable, thanks a bunch!

True Love: Myth or Fact?

They both met on a ship. He was an adventurous young man seeking to start a new life in another country. She was the daughter of an aristocrat, young and lovely to look upon. By an unknown twist of fate, they found themselves head over heels in love with each other. Their love was true and pure even till death when he had to sacrifice himself for her to live after their ship capsized. 50 years later, she is old, alone but still in love with him as she reminisced her experience to a group of explorers searching for answers.
If you are usual viewer of top grossing movies, you will already know that the story is that of The Titanic. When you watch a movie like that, you feel good and enjoy the story while it lasts. The feeling is mutual when you read a romantic novel-it makes you dream of true love come true. But more than once life has shown you another movie, one in which you are the main act, and of which the storyline turns pretty sour at the end. At this point you begin to reconsider the ideal you have about the existence of this so called true love.
“It probably does not exist. Let Disney continue to thrill us with their fantasy stories while we live in reality”, you think aloud to yourself.
There are certain things that make true love come true, in real life as we like to say it. One of such is that true love comes not by chance but by choice. The two lovers must truly and reservedly show themselves undiluted love, care and attention. Again, there can be no true love without giving. Giving in this context does not include splurging a month’s pay on a first date to impress her. Giving means opening your hands to each other’s needs without asking the common human question: “What’s in it for me?”. It is being that person that he can bare his soul out to, coming naked to you-without any fear of reprimand. Sacrifices are part of love. Where sacrifices are not made, love is not apparent. The Creator so loved his creation that He gave his dearly beloved son to die for their sins, even though they denied Him. Ancient Israel monarch, King Solomon sacrificed an innumerable count of cattle to his Lover. The depth of the love is evident in the size of the gift. Such sacrifices can be in finance, in time or in personal sentiments.
On a final note, true love must be worked hard at. It is said that nothing good comes easy and without pain, there can be no gain. If you have love as small as a mustard seed, in which you sow into the soil of the heart of one another, and both nurture it well, in time it will bloom to become a tree that gives life to the hope of the existence of true love in our world, becoming a testimony in the hearts of many to its alive, hale and hearty nature. After all, we all have the capacity to experience such love, not only Mr. John Legend.

Please feel free to say what you feel...your comments are most valuable!