News Flash: Science Discovers Happiness Formula

I went to a class recently where they talked about the human brain a lot, and what recent science has determined makes people "happy." It was amazing to me to hear these things, because it is what the prophets have been teaching since the beginning of time. Suddenly, the scientists have 'discovered' these truths. Kind of like Joseph Smith receiving a revelation cautioning against the ingestion of alcohol and tobacco - these things that science has now discovered to be harmful, and, in the case of tobacco, is not only bad - it kills you.

Anyway, for your edification, straight from my conference materials (with a few corresponding Mormon quotes and Hymns) here are the things that science has now found make people "happy:"

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS. People who regularly concentrate on what they have to feel grateful for are - surprise! - happier than those who dwell on what's wrong with their lives. Even if you have to start with "I am grateful I have arms," this will make you happier. Mormon hymn: "Count Your Many Blessings."

DO GOOD IN THE WORLD. In study after study, any form of generosity raised people's happiness levels. As Spencer W. Kimball once most eloquently stated: "The more service you perform, the more substance there is to your soul." The Kelly kids are all good examples of this to me - they all give so much service to others that I pale in comparison - and they are all very happy people! Mormon Hymn: "Have I Done Any Good in the World Today?"

EXPRESS THANKS: Expressing gratitude and complimenting others significantly increases happiness levels. In one study, participants were asked to write just one Thank-You note to another person. The result: their happiness levels shot up significantly and stayed elevated for one whole month! Mormon Hymn: "Let Us Oft Speak Kind Words to Each Other."

PLAY TO YOUR STRENGTHS: One measure of happiness is the ability to be absorbed in a worthwhile task. Happiness levels are significantly higher, for example, for working people if they believe that they are doing something worthwhile each day. I got this quote from an Ensign article years ago:

This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. -- George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman

Mormon Hymn: "Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel."

Every family has traditions, and one of ours is watching Groundhogs Day every Feb 2nd - for the hundreth time tonite. Hey - that fits with the movie, no?

Anyway, I LOVE this movie - one of my favs of all time. Bill Murray is absolutely brilliant.

Here are some of my favorite "Phil Connor-isms"

• Somebody asked me today, "Phil, if you could be anywhere in the world, where would you like to be?" And I said to him, "Prob'ly right here - Elko, Nevada, our nation's high at 79 today." Out in California, they're gonna have some warm weather tomorrow, gang wars, and some very overpriced real estate. Up in the Pacific Northwest, as you can see, they're gonna have some very, very tall trees.

• People like blood sausage, too. People are morons.

• Could you help me with my pelvic tilt?

• Chance of departure today, one hundred percent.

• So'd you turn pro with that belly button thing, Ned?

• Ned, I would love to stand here and talk with you... but I'm not going to.

• Yeah, they're hicks, Rita.

This is one time where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a large squirrel predicting the weather.

• This is one time where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a large squirrel predicting the weather.

• Come on, all the long distance lines are down? What about satellite? Is it snowing in space? Don't you keep open a line for emergencies or for celebrities? I'm both. I'm a celebrity in an emergency.

• I make the weather.

• Well, it's Groundhog Day... again...

• What if there is no tomorrow? There wasn't one today.

• You're a producer, come up with something.

• This is Nancy, she works in a dress shop... and she makes sounds like a chipmunk when she gets really excited.

• I was in the Virgin Islands once. I met a girl. We ate lobster, drank Piña Coladas. At sunset we made love like sea otters. That was a pretty good day. Why couldn't I get that day over and over and over...

• [playing chicken with an oncoming train] I'm betting he's going to swerve first.

• Catch you tomorrow, huh pops?

• I told you, call me Bronco.

• This is a man we are talking about, right?

• Does he have to use the word "poopy"?

• It always makes me think of Rome, the way the sun hits the buildings in the afternoon.

• I like to say a prayer and drink to world peace.

• This is pitiful. A thousand people freezing their butts off waiting to worship a rat. What a hype. Well, it used to mean something in this town. They used to pull the hog out, and they used to eat it. You're hypocrites, all of you! You have a problem with what I'm saying, Larry? [Larry shakes his head "no."] Untie your tongue, and you come out here and talk, huh? Am I upsetting you, Princess? [Rita shakes her head "no."]

• I'll give you a winter prediction: It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be grey, and it's gonna last you for the rest of your life.

• There is no way this winter is ever going to end, as long as this groundhog keeps seeing his shadow. I don't see any other way out. He's got to be stopped. And I have to stop him.

• [to the groundhog] Don't drive angry.

• Well, we mustn't keep our public waiting.

• I'm a god, I'm not the god... I don't think.

• You like boats, but not the ocean.

• You gotta want it.

• [to Rita throwing cards in a hat] Be the hat. Come on! Go!

• Gosh you're an upbeat lady.

• I promise I won't touch you ... much.

• Winter, slumbering in the open air, wears on his smiling face a dream of spring.

• When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope. Yet we know that winter is just another step in the cycle of life. But standing here among the people of Punxsutawney and basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn't imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter.

• If you're gonna eat steak, get some sharper teeth, alright?

• No matter what happens tomorrow or for the rest of my life, I'm happy now.

• Today is tomorrow. It happened!

• It's so beautiful!... Let's live here. [he kisses Rita] We'll rent, to start.

• Thats not bad for a quadruped.

• La fille que j'aimerai/Sera comme un bon vin/Qui se bonifiera/Un peu chaque matin (The girl I will love/will be like a fine wine/which gets a little better/ each morning)

• [after crashing car after police chase, asks the officer] Is it too early for flap jacks