Happiness
is a never-ending pursuit. ♥
Journey
to the center of happiness
In light of the fact that this entry will be my last ever post concerning The Happiness Project, I decided to do two things: (1) firstly, to
apply my triple “s” resolution—to keep my writing short, sweet, and simple; and (2) secondly, to zoom out of Gretchen Rubin’s story and provide an all-encompassing
view of the ways in which her book has influenced me.
* * * *
I
have come a long way since I began reading The
Happiness Project and if I have learned anything it’s this: happiness is an
ongoing, never-ending pursuit. The moment we stop aiming for happiness is the
moment we set ourselves up for being stuck in a rut. The funny thing about
satisfaction is that it has the potential to fade, whether this is in terms of
wealth, possessions, accomplishments, or otherwise. In order to be truly happy,
we must teach ourselves to be consistent in our search for satisfaction.
I
have come to understand what Henry David Thoreau means when he says we must
“suck the marrow out life.” In order to be happy, we must work to reach
fulfillment in all the principle spheres of life—mind, body, heart, and soul.
In other words, we must redefine what we want out of all aspects of our lives
and in order to live our lives to the fullest and reach the highest possible degree of happiness, and then more. The motivation to address all
of these realms will spur directly from the attitude we take
towards everything that constitutes our lives. The proper attitude wields us
with the weapon we need to eradicate all sources of dissatisfaction that haunt
us, namely our frustrations, our challenges, our fears, and our obstacles. More
importantly, the proper attitude fuels us with the motivation to continue to
aim for the highest level of happiness. Life becomes something to look forward
to, not a pile of burdens that we must toil through on a daily basis.
I
am most unhappy when I feel like I am cheating myself of happiness—when I am
not living my life to its fullest potential. Reading The Happiness Project challenged me to ask myself: How happy am I? Realizing that I am not as happy as I could be has allowed me to enter a
new phase in my life in which I will achieve a sense of adequacy
by working on all dimensions of my life. The department of the MIND will entail gaining
knowledge, investing myself in my passions, and working hard in school and
later on in college and in life. The HEALTH aspect will involve exercising regularly, eating well, and getting enough sleep. The HEART factor will mean
accepting love from all possible sources, including my family, my friends, and
even myself. Finally, the sphere of the SOUL will involve my reconnection with God and
the spiritual dimension of my life through prayer as opposed to simply going to
church.
I
feel now that I have a firmer grasp on the concept of happiness than I have
ever had in my entire life. For me happiness is like a pair of jeans. I wear them, they fit for a while, I look great in them, and I feel good in them. But over time, the color fades, the
material wears, and the feeling of satisfaction I got from them dissolves, becoming a memory. Happiness, like a pair of jeans, can be outgrown. As a result, we cannot allow ourselves to get to comfy in our current states of
happiness; we cannot become complacent. If we want to remain happy, we must constantly work to get a
new pair of jeans that will bring us a fresh wave of satisfaction. I live a good
life and for the most part I have always been happy person. I have just never paid mind to the
fact that I can always be happier. I feel that this is a mistake that the
majority of us make, so whoever is reading this entry, I dare you to ask yourself right now: how happy am I?
The answer to that question may just lead you on a quest to establish more direction
and fulfillment in your life...
Socrates
once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” In my opinion we all have
a duty to ourselves to generate internal order so as to bring about outer order
in our lives. I am a soul-searching individual. I love to reflect and analyze,
to be introspective and to feel at peace with myself. Once upon a time I
thought that this made me one of those people who gets lost within themselves. Reading The Happiness Project led me to understand that I soul-search in order to avoid becoming an unhappy lost soul. I soul-search because being happy begins nowhere if not at home—within
the very self.
And with that my friends I
bid you farewell and wish you the best in your personal happiness projects.
-Sign MAPL∞
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