Happy by Pharrell Williams

After a bit of a break the Retune blog is back! I’m hoping this is something that you will be happy about as this week’s song is Happy by Pharrell Williams.

Happy is a song which promotes the concept of maintaining happiness in life even when experiencing adversity:

Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof. (Because I’m happy).

I’ve certainly experienced times when in the face of difficulty maintaining a positive perspective and attitude has helped maintain my own happiness. However, there are also times when being happy as a choice just doesn’t cut it.

Indeed, there is a whole area of psychology which recognises the concept of toxic positivity. Toxic positivity is where we cover up or ignore our true feelings and pretend everything is fine. Studies have shown that this covering over of what we might perceive as ‘negative’ emotions (read air quotes here as emotions are neither positive nor negative but just what we feel) can lead to an increase in stress on the body.

Whilst on the outside someone who seems to be happy all the time might appear calm and relaxed, inside they might be feeling extreme turmoil which can be a danger to their physical and mental health. So, yes, let’s choose happiness, but never at the expense of having unrealistic expectations of ourselves.

Want to think about this more? Why not book an appointment with the author, Dr Dave Wood?