Treatment for depression involves engaging in actions opposite to what one feels motivated to do, such as getting out of bed, seeking out interactions, and avoiding negative self-thoughts. On the other hand, appreciating the good things in life requires less action and more stillness to embrace the positive moments without immediately moving on to the next task. By resisting the urge to overthink and worry about the future, one can bask in the radiance of the good things and allow themselves to simply sit with the positivity, rather than constantly working against it to maintain a negative mental state.
Can you be too happy? Psychologist Adam Mastroianni talks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about our emotional control systems, which seem to work at bringing both sadness and happiness back to a steady baseline. Too much happiness is--perhaps surprisingly--not necessarily a good thing. They also explore whether our general level of happiness is really related to events in our lives or connected to something much larger than ourselves.