A Place Called Happy

Posted on 03. Jun, 2008 by Karen in Inspiration, Resources

Pulitzer Prize award-winning author, philosopher and philanthropist Edith Wharton once said:

“If only we’d stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time.”

If Wharton were alive today, she’d be thinking that we missed her point completely.  Recently I was in Border’s Bookstore and somehow wound my way around to the area where there were dozens of books on the topic of happiness.  Although I wasn’t looking for a book on happiness at the time, it made me wonder how an entire genre of writing and even psychology has grown up around the question “are you happy?” 

One of the well-known resources is psychologist Ed Diener’s “Satisfaction with Life Scale” that allows you to get a quick snapshot of whether you’re happy or not.  If you’re up to the challenge, here’s Dr. Diener’s test.  Using a 1-7 scale, pick the number that corresponds with your feeling and put it next to each of the 5 statements.

1=Strongly Disagree

2=Disagree

3=Slightly Disagree

4=Neither Agree or Disagree

5=Slightly Agree

6=Agree

7=Strongly Agree

 

—-1. In most ways my life is close to my ideal.

—-2. The conditions of my life are excellent.

—-3. I am satisfied with life.

—-4. So far I have gotten the important things I want in life.

—-5. If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.

Well I guess by now, you’re either happier than you thought or thinking that you may have missed the happiness boat altogether.  If the latter is how you’re feeling then you might be interested in learning more about how to be happy in a great video from the Doc Zone on Canadian television.  The video is about 40 minutes long so bring popcorn.

As for me, I now think of happiness as a journey not a destination.  For that reason, I’ve adopted the Edith Wharton strategy of just having a pretty good time in life.  And go figure — I’m happier.

How about you? 

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4 Responses to “A Place Called Happy”

  1. b

    03. Jun, 2008

    Some time ago, I decided it made more sense to acknowledge
    ‘moments of contentment’ instead of trying for The Big Happy.

    Soon – you come to notice those moments occur just about every day – now and then, here and there…

    They add up – to an overall feeling of satisfaction and joy.

    Not unlike Wharton’s view, eh?

  2. Karen

    04. Jun, 2008

    b–I agree about the moments of contentment. I don’t think there’s really a Big Happy or a place called Happy but a series of stops along the way through life that — add up, like you say. Wharton might think we got the message! Karen

  3. Candelaria Silva

    14. Jun, 2008

    I believe a book I read by Dr. Wayne Dyer put it this way, “There is no road to happiness, happiness is the way.”

    I do think there are lots of moments of contentment and happiness for us all and I do think those of us who are not living in terribly abject circumstances can choose to be happy. Even in tough times I’ve gone through there is a watermark below which I’ve not sunk (thus far).

    I think part of what we have to do, my enjoyment of self-help tomes notwithstanding, is stop turning to other, so-called experts to tell us what we should be doing and how we should be achieving. Listening to the voice within and living as fully as one can will deliver us to a happy place.

  4. Karen

    15. Jun, 2008

    Candelaria–I have a refrigerator magnet with a quote from Souza that says, in part, that “happiness is a journey, not a destination”. It’s very similar to the later quote from Wayne Dyer. All great words of wisdom. If we just look for the destination, what’s left after we get there?

    Karen

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