I must have drifted off for a bit. This has to be the longest delay between setup and punchline! My apologies, readers (or perhaps “reader”, as I can only count on Valerie to read at this point – and she is just trying to make sure I don’t say anything too embarrassing). If anyone else is out there, waiting patiently or even impatiently, thank you!
Anyways, where was I? Oh yes, happiness. I was about to tell you about the outcome of the ten week “Science of Well-Being” course led by Dr. Laurie Santos. As described in my previous articles, the course provided great information on what truly makes us happy – and includes tried and true methods to improve our well-being. I chose to implement a regular practice of gratitude and meditation. For me, that was five (written) gratitude statements and at least ten minutes of meditation per day for the four week period. I may have missed a couple of sessions, but close enough for the real world. Progress, not perfection as the saying goes!
To cap off the course, we were asked to re-test our “happiness levels” using the same online tools we used when the course began. You can check out my Week 1 posting for more details. A helpful hint: if you decide to play along and do this course and use the assessment tools, try not to think about your answers too much. You have already been primed to think about well-being, so the basis for the questions becomes a little more apparent. Rip it off and be honest with yourself.
So, drum roll please…. Dhrrrrrrr …. My measured well-being scores increased by about 10%*. On the “PERMA” score I went from 7 to 7.8/10. That is like moving from a C+ to a solid B (for those of us who used to be tortured with classic report cards). I would say that isn’t too shabby.
Since the course ended, my routines fell apart to a large degree. I won’t waste any space on excuses. Sometimes life intrudes and we fail to make space for all the great things we learned about in the course. Lately I have been trying to get back into meditation, even setting a lower bar for minimum time each day to ensure there is simply no excuse not to do it. After all, if you strip it down, one conscious thought or a mindful breath can be a meditation!
As a final evaluation, the course was totally worth it. Heck, it was free and yielded a 10% well-being boost. Most importantly though, it really helps me to think about life and how to make it that much better as I face opportunities and challenges. Given average life spans, it would be generous to say that I am truly middle-aged. I am ever more mindful of my friend Laurence’s admonition that “We are the authors of our own book.” Now to work on the plot for the next chapters in my life’s book. I would like the synopsis to be: He lived happy-ish-ly ever after.
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*This puts me in line with another famous ten-percenter – Dan Harris. For an entertaining read or audiobook listen, check out his book “Ten Percent Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works–A True Story”. Or if that title seems to long, check out the “Ten Percent Happier” podcast. While not many of us will have our life changing meltdown captured on national TV, Harris is very entertaining and “real” as he explores ways to improve well-being, with a strong focus on meditation.
Art by dirriken
10% increase in happiness is pretty darn good!
Yes, true, we just have to forgive ourselves when that happiness level drops and you think: “What the heck, I thought I had things figured out!”. Hence the need to maintain practices and cultivate feelings of happiness. Just like cultivating a garden, sometimes that big junebug larva is going to hack the roots off your juicy strawberry plant…
You can say readers – I’m joining Valerie 😀
The whole happiest concept has occupied me for a time as well – and for me, it has boiled down to recognizing #1, how strongly news and social media is affecting me (and all of us) in the happiness arena, and #2, how much responsibility I take on for things that really are not my responsibility. So I’ve exited all social media for now, reduced time spent on news to a brief update daily, and have to the dismay of many began denying responsibility for the happiness and ease of others 😀 I’m enjoying life with my creatures and the native plant life that abound around me, working to catch up on my own life, in peace and quiet.
Kudos to you for focusing on happiness, and for getting the boost and the reminder to focus on what’s important. Have a beautiful day!
Excuse typos in my previous comment, I could have SWORN I checked first…
No problem, Nancy! And thanks for the kind words. Amen on the social media, and media in general. I don’t tend to be on social media but I have to do more to avoid other media. Indeed, so much is out of our control. The last year and a half has been particularly challenging as we try to sort out these in control / out of control and necessary / not necessary splits. And yes! I am a fixer and am trying to grow the discretion it takes to step back and let others sort out certain situations and develop their own tools to deal with future problems. Have a happy week and enjoy your critters and the environment that surrounds you.
Hello Curmudge , good to have you back and congrats ‘ on your 10% gain in the happiness field , myself I do wonder how it can be narrowed down to one “box tick ” rather than a box full of ticks , such as contentment , achievement , new job , new house etc. . From my early days , levels of happiness were always judged by how long and how often you laughed but in todays world if you laughed all day long you would soon be “carted off ” . So for me summing up , happiness is who you are and what interests you have and as we are all different in our interests I feel there cannot be a set in stone definition of the word . Whatever we do we cannot expect to be happy all the time and because it is like a light bulb moment when it occurs we get a “high ” and for a while we ride this emotion which for a while dilutes the not so good times which unfortunately are part of lifes rich pattern.
Hi Connie! Well said. What brings happiness to each of us is quite personal. Prioritizing, doing and reflecting on those unique things that make us happy – like going on SAFE rambles through the countryside – is what is important. And laughter really helps, it does. Having a sense of humour is very important as you say. Being able to keep things in perspective and laugh at life’s absurdities helps keep the bitterness at bay. Have a good one, my friend.