Aging Backwards Tuesday Tips: Get Happy

It's Happiness Week here at LifeTwo, so that got me thinking about the meaning of happiness ... and cats.

Happiness is extremely personal. What makes me happy is not necessarily the same thing that makes someone else happy. Take cats, for example. I love cats. I think they're the cutest animals on earth. Brushing, petting and playing with my cat brings me great joy. Yet, I know people who detest cats. Even the mere sight of a cat can send them running in the opposite direction, sneezing and dabbing at their watery, itchy eyes. As I said, happiness is personal.

One way to find out what makes you happy, if you're not entirely sure, is to do the "Enlightenment Exercise" from Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar's book "Happier" (LifeTwo review, Amazon link) and is one of LifeTwo's Happiness Week exercises. Allocate 10 - 15 minutes for this exercise and make a list of all the things you can think of that bring you pleasure. Some of the things you list will have meaning. Many are simple pleasures. The goal is to find things you hadn't really thought of as bringing pleasure, but do.

I did the exercise and came up with a long, long list of pleasures. I really wasn't too surprised at my list because I'm naturally a very happy person and I'm a grateful person. Many years ago I came across a quote that resonated with me: "Happy people are grateful people." I don't know the origin of the quote, but the meaning is loud and clear.

Authentic Happiness

Dr. Martin Seligman is the Director of the University of Pennsylvania Positive Psychology Center and founder of Positive Psychology, a new branch of the field. His research has demonstrated that it's possible to be happier - to feel more satisfied, to be more engaged with life, find more meaning, have higher hopes, and probably even laugh and smile more, regardless of one's circumstances. His book Authentic Happiness is a great place to start learning about what the Positive Psychology movement has found.

When you register for free at the Authentic Happiness Web site, you can take tests to determine your level of happiness, peruse happiness newsletters and access resources and links to happiness. I took the General Happiness Test and scored as high or higher than 84 percent of all women and as high or higher than 81 percent of people my age, regardless of sex. And that made me ... happy!

The Harvard Mental Health Letter reports that the chief characteristics of people who learn to be happy are:
1) A high sense of self-esteem
2) A feeling of being in control of their lives
3) Being an outgoing person
4) Having an optimistic outlook on life

What makes me happy? Here is a partial list:

Finishing a workout
Playing with my cat
Having dinner with my son
Hearing from people who tell me Aging Backwards has helped them
Laughing with my best friend
Calling the Bingo numbers on Monday nights at an independent living facility
Sunday coffee and crosswords
Connecting with a funny, sweet man
Watching a great film
Seeing a white dove
Walking on the beach
Playing in snow
Visiting New York City

These are just a few of the things on my list of "happy." Try Dr. Ben-Shahar's exercise yourself and take the Authentic Happiness tests. You may be surprised to find out that you're happier than you thought.