Zest is a Key Ingredient to Good Living

—Malte Mueller—Getty Images Approaching life with positive expectations, a get-up-and-go attitude, and eagerness is related to many good things in life.

This individual asset is often referred to as zest , and it can be purposefully developed to assist us in managing daily stressors as well as creating meaningful lives.

True zest is not due to hyperarousal or too much caffeine.

It is a cultivated cheerfulness and joy.

When we are stressed or not feeling well, it’s hard to avoid doing things halfway or halfheartedly.

But there are ways we can increase zest even when it seems like the deck is stacked against us, the world is filled with conflict, and our social media feeds are thick with chaos and gloom.

Psychologists Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman pioneered the field of positive psychology, the scientific study of human flourishing.

One of the highlights of their initiatives was published in 2004, Character Strengths and Virtues , a groundbreaking text on the 24 universal character strengths.

Zest is one of the 24 strengths.

When you cultivate zest, you’ll want to fully engage in life and not just view it from the sidelines, look forward to each day, and wake to anticipation over the day’s possibilities.

Zest has also been referred to as vitality , exuberance , and joie de vivre , the French phrase for the joy of living.

In an analysis of data from 130 studies involving more than 275,000 people around the globe, most character strengths were associated with greater mental health.

But zest was one of just two strengths (the other is hope) that had the strongest relationship to mental well-being across countries and age groups.

Zest contributes to life satisfaction among children, adolescents, and adults.