Free Republic

Remember last June how shocked almost everyone was when Britons voted to leave the European Union?By the usual measurements of economic growth (2%), unemployment (down to 4.9%) and standard poll questions on intent, professionals and many others were pretty certain the United Kingdom would decide to remain in the EU that it fought so long and hard to enter.Oops.Turns out, if media had measured “Happiness,” they’d have recognized the historic looming Brexit upheaval. Same for anticipating the Arab Spring.In the 24 months preceding last June’s vote, Gallup found the number of British people who rated themselves happy, thriving, satisfied...

Got joy? Sometimes it can feel hard to keep up a happy state of mind. The emotion, like all the others, isn’t always permanent. But there are ways to keep it up or boost it when you need it ― and luckily, they’re simpler than you think. In honor of the International Day of Happiness, we’ve culled expert tips, research and just a few feel-good suggestions of ways to boost your mood. Take a look below: 1. Log some time with your furry friends. Love GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY Play fetch with Fido or sneak in a...

The key to a happy life, it’s been discovered, is living near to Georgian architecture and a Waitrose. Bath, York, Chichester, Stamford, Skipton, Harrogate, Oxford and Cambridge are among the towns listed in the Sunday Times 20 nicest places to live in Britain survey. Almost all these areas have one thing in common: they all feature a great deal of Georgian housing. And they’re all mostly unaffordable. There is a fair amount of research suggesting that traditional architecture, such as Georgian and Victorian terraces and mansion blocks, contributes to our wellbeing. Beauty makes people happy. –– ADVERTISEMENT –– This can...

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the...

The Lies of the Devil and the Empty Promises of the World Msgr. Charles Pope • September 22, 2016 • One of the great illusions under which we labor is that if we only get just one more thing from this world, then we will be happy. Perhaps we think that if we just had a little more money, or a better job, or the latest iPhone, or if we were married to so-and-so, or if we lived in a better neighborhood, then we would be satisfied and content at last. But “at last” never seems to come even...

In America today the most dangerous place for a child is in the womb The document that gave birth to the United States also declared that life is the first of all rights, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” In America today a culture of death has overtaken us. A spirit that causes otherwise intelligent and rational people to believe in and support irrational things. With those who are aware of...

Conservative values are more conducive to lasting happiness; liberal values tend to engender fleeting pleasure. Liberals pursue happiness, but for conservatives it naturally ensues. Ever wonder why so many liberal Democrats are seething in discontent? It’s because they are takers, not givers. Mounting research indicates that generosity, rather than selfishness, is more likely to produce lasting happiness, an elusive emotion for liberals who languish on the wrong side of the generosity gap. Supported by analysis of IRS tax data, there’s plenty of evidence that states who voted for John McCain gave far more of their discretionary income to charity than...

Tuesday night was a big night for 24-year-old minor league third baseman JaCoby Jones. Well, I should call him a former minor league third baseman. Because on Tuesday night he made his major league debut with the Detroit Tigers, and he had a great game. He did what every minor leaguer hopes to do in their first big league game: he got his very first MLB hit. And that’s not all — he got his first RBI as well. Not just one, but two! It was the bottom of the sixth inning, and the Tigers were tied 3-3 with the...

Starring: Britt Robertson, Josh Gad, Dennis Quaid A Dog's Purpose Official Trailer 1 (2017) - Dennis Quaid Movie

... Kanazawa and Li theorize that the hunter-gatherer lifestyles of our ancient ancestors form the foundation for what make us happy now. "Situations and circumstances that would have increased our ancestors’ life satisfaction in the ancestral environment may still increase our life satisfaction today," they write. They use what they call "the savanna theory of happiness" to explain two main findings from an analysis of a large national survey (15,000 respondents) of adults aged 18 to 28. First, they find that people who live in more densely populated areas tend to report less satisfaction with their life overall. "The higher...

Can a government regulate happiness? That's the question being asked now by many in the United Arab Emirates, after the government announced that it would be creating a "minister of state for happiness" on Monday -- a move that is part of a broader shake-up of the Gulf states' leadership that also saw the creation of a minister of state for tolerance and a number of young politicians appointed. On Twitter, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai, said that the happiness minister position would "align and drive government policy to create social good and satisfaction." Judging from...

The pursuit of happiness is to enter into obedience and not leave. Many of My children are doing their own thing which truly has nothing to do with My Kingdom or The Father's will and in such manner have heaped upon themselves coals of futility weighing themselves down with yokes of bondage. However where My Spirit is there is freedom and in this place you will find My Vessels filled from My Spring of Life within them for there is a well flowing freely that need not be dug again. . . 2 Corinthians 3:17 17 Now the Lord is...

What makes us happy?

Thought this would be a nice thread for the weekend. Wanted to share a couple of things I am grateful for and also what puts a smile on my face. Please share your thoughts.

Why is Hillary Clinton so unhappy? According to her, when she and her husband left the White House, they were dead broke. Yet they left with a truckload of valuable furniture, dinnerware and flatware that was the property of the federal government, for which they were never prosecuted. They also left with contracts for lectures and speeches worth between $20 million and $30 million in the ensuing years. And they have done quite well financially. According to The Washington Post, between the time Bill Clinton left office in 2001 and January 2013, when Hillary Clinton stepped down as secretary of...

“God Wants Me to Be Happy” – A Reflection on a Deeply Flawed Moral Stance Msgr. Charles Pope • October 6, 2015 • One of the questionable, and unfortunately common, forms of moral reasoning today is the rather narcissistic notion that God wants each of us to be happy. Sometimes it is put in the form of a rhetorical question: God wants me to be happy, doesn’t He?And this sort of reasoning (if you want to call it that) is used to justify just about anything. Thus, in pondering divorce, a spouse might point to his or her misery and...

RUSH: A new Gallup poll out. Headline: "Americans Continue to Shift Left on Key Moral Issues." Now, before you go off getting depressed about this, let me tell you what the reason for this is, after we give you the details. "Americans are more likely now than in the early 2000s to find a variety of behaviors morally acceptable, including gay and lesbian relations, having a baby outside of marriage and sex between an unmarried man and woman. Moral acceptability of many of these issues is now at a record-high level." It's a subtle message to the Republican Party, and...

Republicans are happier and more stable in their marriages than Democrats, according to a study released Monday. W. Bradford Wilcox, a prominent sociologist at the University of Virginia, released the analysis finding that Republicans are more often married, less likely to be divorced, and happier in their marriages than Democrats.

I love this quote by illustrious NASA scientist Dr. Robert Jastrow (1925-2008): “For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountain of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.” I would just add to Dr. Jastrow’s keen insight, that it’s not merely theologians at large who have long lounged atop Mount Understanding. It is, more precisely, Judeo-Christian theologians....

Geneva, Switzerland — What is the happiest place? Last week in its annual “World Happiness Report,” the United Nations reported that Switzerland was No. 1. The United States ranked No. 15, and the African country of Togo came in last, at number 158. Switzerland is arguably the world’s most successful country — and most improbably so. It is landlocked and without much in the way of natural resources. It has four official languages, many different religious groups, and is surrounded by warring neighbors. Yet, it has remained an island of peace and prosperity. The last armed conflict on Swiss territory...