Dr. Laura Forsyth presented a seminar during the festivities of today’s Multicultural Day on campus aimed at helping students understand not only how to be happy, but to identify and combat the underlying causes of unhappiness.

Lasting just over an hour, the charismatic and energetic Dr. Forsyth asked an overloaded classroom full of students and Multicultural Day attendees how they knew they were happy and how they got there and, playing off the responses, proceeded to inform about just what the difference was between being in an elated state of excitement and true, underlying happiness. She explained that happiness may not be the ultimate goal of success, but the method by which you succeed.

Forsyth wanted to make clear that happiness should not be regarded as a posh or unimportant subject of research and that, instead, it is incredibly important to finding success.

“Wellness isn’t a goal or optional luxury after working, it is the driving force,” said Forsyth.

After introducing several ideas about what truly causes and has been found to increase happiness in individuals, Forsyth explained a host of ways people can maintain a healthy and consistent happiness ranging from something has little as remembering to express gratitude to other, developing strategies for coping with difficulty, and learning to forgive.

“Being able to give forgiveness. It isn’t letting them off the hook, it’s letting you out of your prison of anger,” Forsyth said.

The presentation was overflowing with helpful advice backed up by hard research from Sonja Lyubomirsky, a professor at the University of California, who highlighted these strategies and about a dozen more to help students not just look for that next spike of bliss, but instead work toward happiness being a constant force in their lives.

“It is worth putting the effort in even if you don’t feel it at first or all the time,” said Forsyth.