I was recently inspired by a sermon I heard at church and from an article I read recently on the psychology of happiness. So to start our wheels turning try the following exercise with me. Just take a moment and write down the following:
Write down your answers to the following questions:
How do you define happiness?
How happy are you currently?
What’s the happiest you have ever been? What memory or memories are tied to that?
On a scale of 1-10, 1 being least happy and 10 being the happiest, where are you today?
Think about your answers and think about if you feel you need or want to improve your current state of happiness. The article I read pointed out that most people who take questionnaires about happiness often rank themselves lower than their actual state of happiness. Most people also will find they would like to improve their happiness and would like to strive to be happier. The author also pointed out that if someone were to try to say they were completely content with their state of happiness and their life as it is then they most likely would be lying to themselves and would in fact not be at their happiest state in their life. The authors reasoning behind this point is that to be happily content is to basically be complacent. You are saying that you aren’t striving for anything beyond where you currently are. Which retrospectively, that state of mind sounds a little sad to me. I also believe there is a difference between someone being content and someone being truly happy. I consider myself to be a pretty happy person, but I still am constantly striving for more happiness in my life and to spread happiness around to others. I live for that drive and pursuit of bigger and better things in my life, whether that be growing in maturity, my knowledge of my career, my spirituality or my over all knowledge in life. The pursuit of happiness itself often raises our answers of the above questions and then in turn continues to improve our state of happiness. As the author of the article put it, “...know that no matter where you are on the spectrum, you can become happier than you are right now. Because there’s one thing all the researchers agree: Happiness begets happiness.”
I personally am very intrigued by the human mind, relationships and how we act as a community and as individuals. I am constantly paying attention to how people react to different situations in public. Whether it be watching couples out to dinner, watching an individual standing in a line or paying attention to the driver in front of me and what they might be doing while we are waiting at a light. (all of this in a non-stalker sort of way of course, I mean I don’t sit there and watch people for long periods of time, I try to pick up on little things fast in just a glance or moment) In my head I am normally trying to guess why they are at this location, what they are doing, what kind of person they are and what their story might be. I think a large part of all of that is the imagination/creative/story telling side of me wanting to tell a story beyond reality and what little information I know. Another part of it is just my general curiosity about human interaction and our reaction to life and the world around us. (If you would like to read the full article that I have been referring to click here: http://www.spiritmag.com/features/article/perk_up/)
I am saying all of that to explain why I am so intrigued about this happiness study and my own general pursuit of it. I believe all of us try to look for the good in ourselves and our lives. That’s part of human nature I feel. I personally hope that I never stop striving for happiness and to help others find happiness in their lives as well.
The concepts discussed in the happiness article and highlighted above in my own take on things, most definitely made me think of my faith. In particular it made me think of the following scripture:
Revelations 3: 15-16 “15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
I know as a kid this scripture stuck with me and was a terrifying image. It hit home from day one and has always stuck. I constantly reference this idea when analyzing my life and my struggles. I believe this concept works for more than just your faith, for now though I will focus on how it connects to the happiness article and our faith.
In faith as in happiness, if you don’t pursue the knowledge of your faith and beliefs and go after more, then you most likely won’t build and strengthen your faith as it stands now. The reverse is true as well; if you strive to better your faith and grow in your faith then you most certainly will have a stronger more knowledgeable faith. This is similar to the striving after happiness in turn makes you happy or happier.
Just by chasing after your faith and beliefs more deeply you are already increasing your faith. That’s kind of exciting and cool to think about in my opinion. Along with chasing after happiness, when I dig deep into my faith and go after more knowledge I always feel a burning desire or drive to know more. It becomes infectious and addicting. I feel like chasing after happiness gives you this same sort of happiness high. Both of these pursuits are a healthy way to help you feel better overall, mentally and physically. It is one of those things that I would tell people, “Why wouldn’t you try to do this” or “There are no negative effects from doing this so what do you have to lose?”
A few good verses that relate to this, I think, are:
James 1: 2-4- “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
This is one of my ALL time favorite verses. Even though sometimes I wish the trials didn’t have to come…which I think is human nature. However, looking back after every trial I have faced, I continually know that each trial has only strengthened my faith and allowed me to persevere in life.
Luke 17: 5-6-“The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.”
Whenever I am struggling with my faith or how much my faith can actually accomplish I try to remember this verse.
A great description of faith is found in this set of verses:
1 Peter 1: 8-9- “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
I don’t know about you, but to be filled “with an inexpressible and glorious joy” sounds like a wonderful thing to me and sounds like a goal I wouldn’t mind chasing after. In your pursuit of happiness and faith I feel you will find yourself continually overwhelmed with joy and glee that you weren’t aware of before. I hope you chase after your happiness and find the things that bring you great joy in your life.
On the topic of finding happiness I came across a great blog and article in that blog, thanks to a good friend of mine who always brings me happiness! The blog is: http://www.abeautifulrippleeffect.com (I highly recommend taking some time out of your day to read this blog and check out her posts. Each one has been great so far!) The specific activity that I feel strongly applies to my blog post is creating a happiness board for yourself. In the authors original post it is an inspiration board, but I feel you can take that same concept and apply it to happiness and it will work just as well. With the happiness board try the following:
- Find yourself a large corkboard so you can glue, staple, pin or tape anything you want on the board. (These can be found at any art supply store, craft store, target and even Wal-mart….the bigger the better in my opinion. After all this is displaying your happiness so you should want to shout it off the rooftops and share it with others, right?)
- Take a sticky note and write: What makes me happy? Place this sticky note in the center of the board.
- From that moment forward collect different things that make you happy or remind you of things that make you happy anytime anywhere. These things can be post-it notes, images printed from the internet or cut out of magazines, articles, words, quotes, colors, photos, dried flowers, etc. It’s your happiness board so it can be whatever you want it to be!
- This step is simple and easy: remember to collect things and take some time out of your day or week to reflect on your board when you need some inspiration or a dose of happiness!
I think this activity will be super fun for anyone that tries it! I am going to do it too and will try to post pictures of my happiness board periodically on this blog. I think this activity will also show you in a very real way how “Happiness begets happiness”.
I do recommend if you have the time going through the relaxation menu blog posts, it is a great activity as a whole and in my opinion, is worth setting some time aside for it. You can find it here: http://www.abeautifulrippleeffect.com/2010/09/how-to-create-a-personal-relaxation-menu-part-1/
In conclusion I want to leave you with some lyrics from one of my favorite artists, Florence
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