Grade Yourself on Happiness

The items below relate to your happiness.

• Feel safe and calm.
• Feel satisfied with personal goals.
• Take time to reflect on positive experiences.
• Have satisfying relationships with others.
• Have fun or find things funny.
• Get immersed in things that you love to do.
• Seek satisfaction in long-term experiences.
• Take time to express gratitude.
• Have the wisdom to know what can be changed.

If I were grading myself on happiness based on the above I think I’d get a B. Let me take a moment to go through the list.

• Feel safe and calm. – B – I feel safe most of the time but not necessarily calm. I get tense kind of easily.
• Feel satisfied with personal goals. – B+ – I do pretty well at this, I could probably focus more and get more done.
• Take time to reflect on positive experiences. – A – I’m a big retrospective person and I don’t tend to dwell on the negative, I mostly try to relive and reflect on experiences I have truly enjoyed, that have been special, unique or unsurpassable in some manner.
• Have satisfying relationships with others. – B+ – Of the relationships I cherish and care about most are satisfying but some could be more so. Other relationships, more fringe-type relationships could, in general, probably be a little better.
• Have fun or find things funny. – A – I can’t imagine not having humor in my life on a daily basis. I am pretty good at finding a little fun or funny in my day.
• Get immersed in things that you love to do. – B – I tend to put things off or tell myself that I don’t have time for some of the things I love to do. I do tend to my interests in some things but not others. I just need to focus a little more on those that aren’t getting as much attention.
• Seek satisfaction in long-term experiences. – B – I am not a patient person so sometimes I get anxious with long-term experiences that involve reaching some sort of goal or end. I need to get better at enjoying the ‘getting there’ process.
• Take time to express gratitude. – A – I think gratitude is one of the most important values to practice. I am very good about expressing my gratitude for others and taking time to ponder what or who I am grateful for.
• Have the wisdom to know what can be changed. – B – I know much of what can be changed but sometimes I find myself puzzled over whether or not change is really possible. I think courage is needed in addition to wisdom to make some changes. I think it’s the courage part that maybe I’m lacking, not the knowing part.

Yeah, so I think I get a solid B. Not bad but there's room for improvement. I would consider myself a generally happy person but there are ways to be even happier. I think how happy we are depends on a few other key values, like:

• Love – do I have things I love that bring me happiness?
• Self-esteem – am I happy with myself?
• Gratitude – are you grateful for all that you have and all the opportunities you are afforded?
• Optimism – do you try to see the positive in challenging situations?
• Responsibility – are you taking care of business not letting things slip through the cracks?

There are certainly other values that play into our happiness but I thought I’d share a few that I think are pretty key. Maybe you have others that give your happiness a boost.

What grade would you give yourself on happiness? What other values help you to be happier?