The Happiness Project Revisit

After my post last Thursday about The Happiness Project, Alex suggested I answer the questions myself. So here are my answers! By the way, if you’re new here, I hope you’ll check out the About page linked at the top and read through some of the old posts. Welcome!

1. How do you define happiness?

That’s a very complicated question (after all, my whole blog is about it). Generally, I suppose I feel like happiness is about finding a balance between extremes. Too much stress is bad, but too little is boring; in the middle is a good challenge. Not having enough is difficult, but again, having too much can be boring. I like to be active, especially if I have some control over what I am doing. So happiness is having fun things to work on, interesting people to spend time with, and a certain amount of freedom.

2. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your happiness now, versus when you were a child?

Now, I am an 8, versus a 9 when I was a child. It’s difficult to think back on being a kid in an unbiased way, but I have lots of good memories. Now-a-days, I feel pretty good. I don’t have many things detracting from my happiness – my schedule at school isn’t too stressful, have good people around me – but there are a few things I would like in my life that I don’t have (but am working towards). So there is room for improvement, but I’m not dying either.

3. What do you do on a daily basis that brings you happiness? (And how consistent is the feeling of happiness throughout your day?)

I love checking things off my to-do list. I usually have lots of little side projects going, and working on them gives me a real sense of accomplishment. Those make for little highs through the day. Talking to friends or relaxing is good too, sort of a happiness IV drip (slow but steady). I’m sorry to admit that I don’t appreciate my classes as much as I should; they usually only make me happy in a retro-active, “hey look what I can do now” way, but I try to appreciate them while I’m there. Unfortunately, I still usually am the standard student, enjoying classes proportionally to how easy or short they are.

Also, I like setting two alarms in the morning, so I can shut off the first and doze for a while. It makes me feel like I’ve gotten to sleep in every morning, which is a pretty good way to wake up.

4. What things take away from your happiness? What can be done to lessen their impact or remove them from your life?

Stress from taking on more than I can handle is a big problem. There’s a fine line between challenging myself and overburdening myself, but I can usually tell when I’ve crossed it. When I do, I do my best to cut back on my obligations to get back in balance, whether that means delaying a project or canceling some plans to give myself the time I need. If I can get things under control again, I tend to enjoy the projects more and feel better.

Aside from that, only the usual stresses of everyday life: bad weather, frustrating strangers, little setbacks. Usually there’s nothing to be done, so I just try to remember that being angry about it doesn’t help. If I can trick myself into really believing that (which I think goes against human nature), it helps a lot.

5. What do you plan on doing in the future that will bring you even more happiness?

Hopefully it’s a long list. Stay open to new experiences, so that I don’t miss out on something good, but hold on to the things I enjoy. Challenge myself. Surround myself with people who are excited about life. Maybe most importantly is to listen to my gut whenever I can. It seems like being reasonable and being happy aren’t always in line, which is why you end up with ninety year olds who smoke two packs a day, and starving artists who would prefer a canvas to a hot meal. Sure, they’re a little odd, and probably not in the most secure situation, but they’re doing what makes them happy with a passion I find really admirable.