The reasons for feeling good vary by individual but the overall are attributes are consistent. Our state of mind is overcome by positive emotions (joy, contentment, satisfaction ) resulting in an enduring sense of well being.

The root cause of happiness lies within.  That is while external factors influence us, at times apparently overwhelmingly so,  ultimately how we feel is our choice.

Or is it?

The brain is our engine driving our decisions both of feeling and logic.  The operation of the brain is basically chemical reactions which require among other things, chemicals like serotonin, epinephrine, adrenalin and so on.

The level of these substances contained within our body can affect our ability to decide we are happy.  To effectively create emotional well being the brain relies on these compounds to function optimally .

Personal Accountability

I am a strong believer each of us is responsible for our decisions a d determining our emotional state but there is strong evidence measuring and adjusting critical  components of our body chemistry does improve our ability to control our own happiness.

In a strange turn of events the levels of critical chemicals within our body can be diminished by traumatic events causing an imbalance resulting in sadness and depression largely out of control.

Help Yourself with Pills

In essence this means our ability to successfully combat  the impacts of traumatic events (e.g. death in the family) is complicated by managing the levels of brain chemicals, something largely outside of our conscious control.

There are ways of increasing  the levels of these chemicals and in cases where your ability to control brain function is diminished, these might be worth considering.

Stay happy out there.