For one thing, they tend to enjoy more successes in life. You may be thinking that happiness and

success go hand-in-hand because success causes happiness, not the other way around. Researchers at the University of California in Riverside thought about this, too. So they set out to test that hypotheses, and found happiness is associated with (and precedes) several successful outcomes, as well as behaviors that go along with success, proving that the relationship goes both ways: Success brings happiness, but happiness actually does bring success, too.

Another benefit that happy people share is good health. Studies have found that happy people experience lower levels of cortisol in their saliva, lower blood pressure, lower ambulatory heart rate in men, and reduced neuroendocrine, inflammatory, and cardiovascular activity. All this leads to greater health, which is definitely something to be happy about!

There are several routes to happiness. Some are quick and bring immediate positive feelings, and others take more time and bring lasting and repeated feelings of happiness. The following resources bring several strategies from both categories, which can help you become -- and stay -- one of the world’s happy people.