Get Empowered: If You're Happy and You Know It, Blame Your Parents

When it comes to mental stability, my parents are complete opposites. My mom can endure anything – a flat tire, a tiff with her co-workers, a phone call saying my brother has been suspended (again), and the woman will smile and shrug it off and probably ask me to go get ice cream. My mom's mom, my favorite grandma, is the same way. She rebounds from every little mishap in a matter of a few seconds.

My father, on the other hand, is a completely different story. He becomes enraged by the littlest things, just like my crazy, neurotic but (sometimes) loveable grandparents.

Coincidence? I think not. According to research conducted by both British and Australian researchers, you can and do inherit happiness. The researchers conducted studies on both fraternal and identical twins, asking them "a series of questions about their personality, how much they worried and how satisfied they were with their lives", according to an article at MSNBC.com.

The study found that identical twins were far more similar in personality than were fraternal twins. Basically, this means that certain traits that bring happiness are in fact, related to genes. So the next time you're feeling on top of the world – you can thank your Mom and Pops. Check out the entire article here.

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