Aim for happiness

Recently, there is a theme I have become very interested in.

It is called the “Three Degrees of Influence.”

I have posted some materials about it on the KaradaNaoru training page, so if you are interested, please take a look.

Put simply, it has been shown that a person’s happiness can spread through a network up to three degrees away.

A friend.

A friend of a friend.

And then, that person’s friend.

The influence can reach that far.

Your state may even reach your friend’s mother’s friend.

Even though you have never met them.

And interestingly, people may be more strongly influenced by their friends than by their parents or partners.

For example, if you have a friend who becomes obese, your own likelihood of becoming obese increases by 57%.

In the case of a spouse, the increase is 37%.

So the old saying, “If you want to become rich, have rich friends,” may not be entirely wrong after all.

People are influenced by those around them far more than they realize.

And at the same time, they influence those around them far more than they realize.

That is why I have recently started to think this:

People should be more selfish about their own happiness.

Many people sacrifice themselves for their families, for their work, or for the people around them.

But if you continue to endure unhappiness, you may also be spreading that unhappiness to others.

If you are not happy, it becomes harder for the people around you to be happy as well.

In that sense, making yourself happy is not selfish.

It is a responsibility.

When I look around, the people who follow their own senses seem lighter.

Those who move only because someone told them to, or because they feel they have no choice, somehow look burdened.

People are connected.

Happiness spreads.

So do heaviness and lightness.

Your state reaches people you do not even know.

Aim for happiness.