An Argument For Synthetic Happiness....

I like science.  I like the brain.  But I don't know that I have a very scientifically thinking brain.  That's part of why I love this TED talk.  In his TED talk, Dan Gilbert, who I'm sure has a very scientific thinking brain, does a great job of explaining how the brain works in regard to our happiness.  And he does this in a way I can appreciate, in a way that my brain can wrap itself around and understand. 
Dr. Gilbert explains that while we think happiness is something we find, it actually works better for us if happiness is something we synthesize.  If happiness can only come when we get exactly what we were wanting, well the odds aren't exactly in our favor.  However, if we can synthesize happiness...if we can use our psychological immune system in a way that helps us change our views of the world so that we can feel better about the worlds in which we find ourselves....well now we are on to something.  The odds tend to be favoring us.  This is how we can make sense of struggle....which all of us are wired for.  This is how we can bring meaning to our pain.  This is how we are able to embrace the life that unfolds before us and feel that this is the best life we could have possibly had.  That it's exactly the life we were destined for.  That it is imperfect and full of struggle and therefore glorious!