Looking for happiness
Let’s play a game shall we? Grab a pen and a piece of paper.
In this first section I’m going to ask you six questions and I want you to answer honestly. Keep your answers to yourself, and if you feel like sharing in the comment section, please go ahead.
Don’t think too hard about the answers. Just write down what first comes to mind. If you are thinking for more than a minute on one, move to the next question and then return when you are finished. Most importantly, be honest and have fun!
Let’s get started.
1. On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the ideal), how happy are you?
If you have answered 10 then good for you! All you 10s… take a minute to jot down the reasons you have to be happy. What would your life be like without these things?
If your answer was anything less than 10, please continue answering the questions.
2. What is the one thing that is missing that would make all the difference in your happiness?
3. What would your life be like if that happened?
4. What is the one thing you can do that will bring this into your life?
5. What would you have to let go of to have the life you want?
6. What story are you making up that is preventing you from achieving this happiness?
Ok, we’re finished with this step. What did you learn?
Do you see the possibilities you can create for yourself? When will you achieve this? Today? Tomorrow? Next week? Next month? Next year?
But wait. I have one last question…
Why are you choosing to delay joy?
Happiness and you
I’m pretty sure most of us at one time or another have thought we couldn’t be happy until we get what we want. “I’ll be happy when…”
Perhaps we’ve succeeded and believe we have everything we could ever dream of having, but we’re afraid of losing it because it defines us. What happens when we get it and realize it wasn’t what we thought it would be, or there is still something missing?
Happiness comes with so many conditions doesn’t it?
Those of you who rated your happiness as a 10 and listed the reasons why, could you imagine your life without these things? How much did your happiness depend on them?
How to switch on happiness
I’ll keep this short and sweet.
Happiness IS sweet — like the icing on a cake.
How many cakes can you ice today? How many places or people can you find to add happiness to?
Rather than take it out of life, put it into life.
What colour is your icing? What flavour? Can you just taste it now?
Photo credit: Code Poet & AMagill
Hilary
Jannie Funster
Joy
Linda
Tony Single
vered
Patricia
Evita
J.D. Meier
Megan "JoyGirl!" ...
{ 21 comments }
I reckon this blogosphere should be the happiest little sphere there is, there have been so many happiness posts lately. And I like this one very much!
I think I’m a 10 in a quiet sort of way – quiet because its getting late and I’m a bit bleary-eyed, and my nose is cold (I just turned the heater up). I really can’t list the reasons I feel happy, because I honestly don’t think in terms of various things “making” me happy.
When I was living by myself and had no money or social life or anything, years ago, I used to notice that I was very happy in the periods I had very little money – and the reason was that I could only afford to eat brown rice and steamed vegetables and tofu, and so on, and I filled in my days with long walks – and I got fit and healthy. When I got more money it all went down the tubes, and this pattern kept repeating itself. So for me, happiness revolved around feeling physically well – at the time, anyway. Today, I would say that the “things” that make me happy can’t be taken away from me (I mean, as long as I was basically healthy). Sorry – this isn’t making much sense – blame it on my cold nose.
Robin’s last blog post..Tomato Seeds And Delicious Fruit
I can honestly say, I’m happy most of the time. I have one issue that sits on my shoulders sometimes, but that’s being worked on as we speak. When that’s finished, all hell will break loose and happiness galore will rein………………….:)
Thanks for the great scale. It does put things into perceptive.
LisaNewton’s last blog post..City Center Rocks Los Angeles
Hi Robin.
Thank you. Lol, whaaaa? :-) (just kidding). Thanks for sharing — your comment about feeling happier when you had less money has reminded me of a quote that I just happened to read last night. “When you draw your sustenance from the soul, which is eternal and fulfilling, your needs become simpler.”
Your life was a lot simpler then… less distractions from yourself. Money, money, money. “We can’t live with it, and we can’t live without it.”
Hi Lisa.
You’re welcome. The extra weight of this little shoulder friend of yours is just helping you build muscle. I can’t help but imagine him sitting there with his spiked tail and pitchfork. I think I’ve seen too many episodes of the Flintstones.
For me, “10″ would be reached if I am able to be more calm on the inside. So it’s not about some outside event or achievement, but rather about making the effort to change myself.
Vered – MomGrind’s last blog post..Cabo San Lucas
If I may propose a question #0,
“How much happiness is too much?”
Chris | Martial Development’s last blog post..Teaching Children The Magic of Martial Arts
Hi Davina,
I get the feel that you’re so much happier after the short break you took. It’s overflowing from your heart and you’re reaching out to your readers because you want them to be happy. That’s wonderful!
Happiness was my constant companion for the past 7 years, because I had everything I wanted. I still love my life, just that I guess after 7 years I’m looking for something more, a new challenge, and this sense of unease and restlessness has perhaps affected my happiness. Or perhaps this dreaming, this wanting more… IS a part of happiness?
Daphne’s last blog post..Attaining Spiritual Peace
Hello, Davina! I’m happy to finally visit your blog, just added this great blog to my blog roll. :-) I liked your question, “Why are you choosing to delay joy?” Out of all the things that should be dlelayed, why joy? For some reasons, maybe we fear that by trying to reach our true joy, we’ll lose whatever fillers we currently have in our life, fillers that replace true joy. Fear prevents us from being truly happy.
Jocelyn at I TAKE OFF THE MASK’s last blog post..The Importance of One Person
Happiness is all there is. It is not something you find. Nothing is lost. The sensation you imply has no name and no form. When the mind does not interfere, you know you have it. When mind appears, hinderances present. Its as if you discover a hole in your empty butterfly net.
Liara Covert’s last blog post..9 Truths that penetrate from beyond
I was just listening to some audios and I learned that I am in suffering when I am out of alignment to the Truth of who I am. Since the Truth is that we are really in Oneness with God, it happens when we experience separation. I guess if I am complaining, worrying, judging, etc then I’d say that I’m not truly happy, huh? I’m turning philosophical this weekend, due to some personal challenges this weekend. Great questions that you’ve asked, which are making me contemplate further.
Thanks,
Evelyn
Evelyn Lim’s last blog post..Lose Yourself To Find Yourself
Davina,
I liked the game and the questions! One thing though I could not play it too long… my answer to the first question was 10 ;)
Yummy! – LOL!
Alik Levin | PracticeThis.com’s last blog post..150 Ways To Break Into Your Blog (Hacking For Dummies)
Hi Vered.
Your lack of calmness is a response to “something”. Are you one of those types who appear calm on the outside, but tense on the inside? Too hard on yourself perhaps? The trick I play is to just be happy for no reason (no cause for the happiness — it’s not attached to anything) and project that towards “whatever” is there. Could be that this would lessen the pressure you place on yourself to measure up to the standards you have set.
Hi Chris.
That’s a good question! How much IS too much? I don’t think it can ever be too much, cause it’s not something a person can collect or hold on to. It just keeps unfolding… if we let it. And if I sound like the expert here, guess what…? I’m not :-) This is just “information” that drops in that I enjoy sharing and seeing where it leads. Thanks for adding a great question this conversation Chris.
Hi Daphne.
That’s fantastic that you’ve enjoyed happiness for so long. That’s all I ever really want, but it gets messy because I fall into the habit of believing the happiness is because of something. “Happiness was my constant companion for the past 7 years, because I had everything I wanted.” My point exactly… we attach happiness to something we have.
If I may, let me rephrase this for you… you cared enough about yourself to appreciate all that you attracted into your life. The happiness came first and drew the rest to you. It sounds like you are growing and ready to explore new perspectives about your life Daphne. What’s the next step for you on this adventure? :-)
Welcome Jocelyn!
Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm and your great insight. I’m happy that Shades of Crimson has joined your blog roll.
Isn’t this an excellent question — “Why are you choosing to delay joy?” A friend asked me that the other day and it stopped me in my tracks. I realized that I was denying myself joy because I didn’t have this and I didn’t have that. AND… I was denying JOY itself from being expressed through me.
And you’re right. Fear throws us into a spin when we forget that joy is already there just like the air we breathe. Imagine if we didn’t trust that we would ever take another breath?
Hi Liara.
I love what you’ve said here “It’s as if you discover a hole in your empty butterfly net.” It really is simple and we make it so hard. “It’s easy to make it hard” — hmmm.
Hi Evelyn.
Excellent points! Thank you for adding this to the discussion. What you’ve said is so important. I know I needed to hear this. This statement of yours, “I guess if I am complaining, worrying, judging, etc then I’d say that I’m not truly happy, huh?” is perfect. As you mentioned, we are suffering when we are out of alignment with Truth. I guess that when we’re doing all this worrying and judging, etc. we are filling in the blanks because we’ve forgotten to “see”. The ego is happy because it feels “right” :-)
Hi Alik.
Lol, that great you 10 you! Have a great weekend.
Davina’s last blog post..Happy Yet?
“… you cared enough about yourself to appreciate all that you attracted into your life. The happiness came first and drew the rest to you. It sounds like you are growing and ready to explore new perspectives about your life Daphne. What’s the next step for you on this adventure?”
Davina,
I love your way of phrasing this! The happiness came first… that’s probably right. So now I’m seeking growth, so I will attract growth? I have no idea what the next step is. Seeking out the adventure is part of the adventure, and I’m letting myself take my time to enjoy the journey this year.
Daphne’s last blog post..A Positive Letter for Hilary
Hi Daphne.
The adventure could be uncovering what is with you NOW :-) and asking that part of you what is the next step. What do you need to let go of to move on? What is wanting to be expressed in your life? If you turn around and see from where you’ve come, recognize how you’ve grown. We evolve when we’re Being, and not even thinking about it. In fact, the thinking stunts our growth.
Just seeing the image on your page made me happy, but reading the entire post made me feel awesome because it gave me time to think about my own happiness. I do this quite a bit now that I have a blog, but it never hurts to do it more often.
I really like your blog by the way. It’s great! :)
Positively Present’s last blog post..see the world through enchanted eyes
Hi Davina – I love this test. Most of the time I’m a ten, but I do have my days when I’m not. I also like how the questions that followed the first one remind us we create our own happiness, and we are the only ones holding ourselves back.
Very thought provoking. Thank you.
Barbara Swafford’s last blog post..About Me – The Most Important Page On Our Blog
Hi Positively and welcome!
Isn’t that a terrific image. I love it too. I’m glad it lit you up. I have taken a peek at your blog and I see a lot of good reading ahead of me.
Hi Barbara.
You are so right. We are the only ones holding ourselves back. What I find is good when we can get past that wall, is that on those days when we are not a 10, to not be too hard on ourselves.
There’s a book idea in there somewhere — “What Color Is Your Icing” — it could be an unofficial sequel to “What Color Is Your Parachute.”
Davina,
I am coming back to take the your test after I take my big test this week…I will be happier after this week….I am tense, I admit it…
patricia’s last blog post..A Different Journey
Hi Chris.
Ha, ha! Very funny. :-) Good one.
Hi Patricia.
Good luck with your test. If I may share a metaphor… Learning curves can be dizzy sometimes if you go too fast. Take your time… enjoy the trip. Merge to oncoming traffic… or should I say, incoming knowledge. Ok, I’ll stop now. :-)
My happpiness is a 9.
I think I want to rule the world.
Nope just kidding.
If I think I’m lacking I just need to imagine myself without something I have now, like losing a loved one. What I would give to have them back – anything probably.
So I want for nothing, really.
Jannie Funster’s last blog post..Jannie’s Fine!!
Hi Jannie.
A 9 — fantastic! You just reminded me of that song by Tears for Fears — “Everybody wants to rule the world”. I love that song.
Interesting choice of words… you moved from “thinking” about lacking to “feeling” appreciative for what you have. Notice that? :-)
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