'Handbook for Happiness': Resilience is key

Dr. Amit Sood has written the book on happiness.

"The Mayo Clinic Handbook for Happiness" proclaims that "happiness is a habit." Sood's guide identifies strategies and techniques for finding — and keeping — the right attitude.

Sood joined MPR News' Kerri Miller to talk about a key part of happiness: resilience. He likened resilience to the rumble strips on the side of the highway.

"From the rumble strip you can end up in the ditch, or you can recover back on the highway," Soot said. With resilience, "the idea is to recover quickly on the highway of life."

Sood pointed out the unexpected connection between happiness and adversity.

"Happier people are not those who have less negative experiences," Sood said. In fact, negative experiences can help you increase your resilience, and in turn, your happiness. "When you go through life's adversities, you can actually turn out to be happier and more resilient than having a plain, vanilla no-adversity life."

To hear the full discussion on happiness and resilience with Dr. Amit Sood, use the audio player above.