The Truth About Happiness

It’s the first day of summer— a time to rest, reset, and focus on wellbeing, especially for teachers. Though you may not be quite done with school yet, the hope of a few weeks of vacation on the horizon can boost your mood and provide hope. For some teachers and administrators, it’s barely enough time to recharge before school starts in the fall. But happiness doesn’t just have to come during the summertime. Did you know you can learn the skills of happiness all year round?

That’s right, happiness is a LEARNED skill, even though our brains are hardwired to notice the negative aspects of life. (We can thank human evolution and our early ancestors’ crucial need to spot threats and survive.) Of course, negative events and thoughts are inevitable, but through the science and skills of Positive Psychology, you can learn to counteract this negativity bias and develop practices that can boost your overall wellbeing. 

What if you could also teach happiness skills to your students, particularly students with autism? We know teachers manage challenging classroom behaviors and struggle to find the time to modify assignments and create lesson plans. Students of all abilities can benefit from evidence-informed Positive Psychology practices. In fact, the autism community (individuals with autism, their providers, and families) needs accessibility to happiness more than ever. 

Given the Surgeon General’s recent advisories on loneliness, we know society is experiencing significant rates of loneliness and depression, and autistic individuals report higher levels of loneliness and depression than the typical population. We must create solutions to counteract loneliness in autistic individuals, starting in adolescence, and that’s where Proof Positive comes in! 

Our Summer Learning Series begins today, so follow Proof Positive on our socials (Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn) for a refresher on the evidence-informed skills of happiness. You’ll learn how to induce joy with Jolts of Joy, capitalize on your Character Strengths, develop a gratitude practice with What Went Well, and use the PERMA+ Snapshot tool to check up on your wellbeing. Educators can download free lesson plans, teaching slides, and unit studies based on these skills. We’re making it easy to spread the love! 

We are all connected, and we all know the power of learning.  Let’s equip ourselves with the skills we need to boost our own happiness and teach it to others, whether in the classroom or to our kids at home. 

More about our work:

What is Positive Psychology? 

Positive Psychology is the scientific study of human strengths and virtues. It was founded on the premise that we should apply the same scientific rigor used to understand human suffering and mental illness to study human happiness and mental health. It’s about understanding what makes life worth living, what enables humans to thrive, and how to cultivate greater wellbeing. 

Why Spread the Science and Skills of Happiness? 

As humans, teachers, and parents, it feels good when you and the people around you experience positive emotions – when we are happy. Positive emotions also improve our sleep and increase our productivity. Proof Positive makes happiness skills accessible to the autism community with adapted teaching strategies and resources for learners with autism. Over time, practicing skills like Jolts of Joy, Character Strengths, What Went Well, and PERMA+ Snapshot can boost your wellbeing and support those around you, too.