Brooke Tiller English 212 Happiness Project December 9th

SUPER NOVA OF HAPPINESS: MY HAPPINESS PROJECT I think that we are like stars. Something happens to burst us open; but when we burst open and think we are dying; were actually turning into a supernova. And then when we look at ourselves again, we see that were suddenly more beautiful than we ever were before C. JoyBell C. Before taking this class on the pursuit of happiness, I felt like I was a decently happy person that understood what it took achieve happiness, and what it required for myself to reach true happiness. At the start of this class, we were assigned to explore our happiness, another persons happiness, and our broad view on happiness as a whole. We continued this pursuit of happiness with our own personal goals set at the start of each month and concepts to further understand, inspired by ideas of Gretchen Rubin in her book, The Happiness Project. Looking back at the start of this exploration, I realize how little I knew, and how much it has impacted my life. In August, at the very beginning of class, I was asked to write about what happiness means to me, and what makes me happy. I started my explanation by saying, Explaining happiness; something that when I think about it, should be so simple. But in reality, I found that explaining happiness was actually quite challenging to do. Which, after finishing my happiness project, and this class, I realize is still very true. Happiness is not easily explained and is different for everyone, but at this time I didnt realize how happiness could be dissected into many ideas and concepts. I never thought that people studied and truly understood the joy that comes of people, and the consistent feeling of it.

As I think now of how I would explain the definition of happiness, I would refer to the words of Deepak Chopra and his Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, When we begin to experience our life as the miraculous expression of divinity, not occasionally, but all the time then we will know the true meaning of success. To me this means that happiness comes when you look at your life as a miracle, not just every once in a while, but all the time. When a person finds blessings in everything they do and are grateful for the extraordinary qualities we hold as individuals. To relish in the miracle, the beauty, and the wonder that surrounds us as often as possible. To embrace all aspects of our lives including the memories, the laughter, our failures, our friends and family is what creates our most sincere form of happiness. In the beginning of this exploration, I explained happiness as, Being content with your life. Being content with how it is going, and how your relationships or goals are going. Its knowing where you are, who you are, and who you have around you and being fulfilled. I not only still believe this is true, but I further understand it by the ideas of Deepak Chopra and his explanation of the success of happiness in ones self. Chopra explains that, No amount of money or success will solve basic problems of existence; only intimacy with the Self will bring about true healing. And when you are grounded in the knowledge of your true Self when you really understand your true nature you will never feel guilty, fearful, or insecure about money, or affluence, or fulfilling your desires, because you will realize that the essence of all material wealth is life energy, it is pure potentiality. And pure potentiality is your intrinsic nature (Chopra, 4). I believe he explains that in order to succeed in happiness, a person must be at peace with them-selves and understand their essential qualities. It is not outside sources that provide in a persons

most genuine and long lasting joy, but rather being content and fulfilled with what is on the inside, and to think holistically. After being asked to explain my broad explanation of happiness, I was asked to interview someone elses view on happiness. I chose my assistant coach, Shannon Flippin, someone who I believe is very wise on the subject of happiness and brings an unexplained amount of joy when he walks into a room. Shannon changed my perspective on happiness in substantial ways. One perspective of his has made me understand happiness more profoundly, and I find this perspective to be extremely true. Deepak Chopra explained the same concept when talking about the importance of understanding oneself to be happy. When I asked Shannon what his perception on others happiness was, he didnt hesitate explained that he thought it was twisted. Shannon believes that people wrap themselves up in their own self worth in other people or one particular thing. He elaborated of this by explaining that, Girls tend to wrap themselves and their self worth in a relationship and guys do in their accomplishments. Both in which are selfdestructive. You are more then just that. You are a compilation of all the things that you are and just because one isn't going good, that doesn't mean the others can't be good. Other people that aren't happy tend to wrap themselves too much into one thing. People that are happy tend to be holistic in terms of the view of them-selves. Shannons use of the word holistic was the inspiration to one of my most important goals in my happiness project in November. I felt his idea of peoples happiness was extremely accurate. I, along with many others, spend so much time focusing on one small aspect of our lives that ultimately cripple our true happiness. In November I forced myself to think of all of the successful parts of my world, and to be

grateful for them rather then allowing the bad to over power all that there is to be happy about in my life. Sonja Lyubomirsky explains that the rumination of bad thoughts, Worsens sadness, fosters negatively-biased thinking, and impairs a persons ability to solve problems (thehowofhappiness.com). Thinking holistically and letting go of the negative thoughts made me a much happier person and helped me set free the limitations that it applied to my life. When I asked what brought Shannon the most happiness, that might be able to aid in others happiness, he replied by saying that we as people should help others more, especially people that really need the help. It reminded me of a quote by Rabindaranth Tagore, The universe operates through dynamic ex-change. Giving and receiving are different aspects of the flow of energy in the universe. And in our willingness to give that which we seek, we keep the abundance of the universe circulating in our lives (Simon). I never thought about this idea when I first started my happiness project that I now believe to be important in our happiness. Another part to this exploration of happiness that I found to be an important understanding and realization is the idea of gratitude. In November I also focused on practicing gratitude, a concept in which I never understood until reading parts of the The Hows of Happiness by Sonja Lyubormirsky. She explains that practicing gratitude, Is wonder; it is appreciation; it is looking at the bright side of a setback; it is fathoming abundance; it is thanking someone in your life; it is thanking God; it is counting blessings (89). It is savoring; it is not taking things for granted; it is coping; it is presentoriented. Gratitude is an antidote to negative emotions, a neutralizer of envy, avarice, hostility, worry, and irritation. My goal was to spend time every night writing things I

was grateful for. I tried as often as I could to sit myself down and write what I was grateful for in my life. It always brought a smile to my face, and pushed me to think of the bright sides of my life, no matter how small. Robert Emmons defines gratitude as a felt sense of wonder, thankfulness, and appreciation for life (Berkelhammer). I focus now more on remembering what I am grateful for when I am at feeling low, or when I need to refocus myself on what really matters. Gratitude brings me down to earth. I used to think simplistically about the idea of happiness, and what it is like to be unhappy, but I now know there is much more involved. I understand now that unhappy points in your life lead to those happy moments and the further understanding of the essence ones self. As Lyubormirsky sheds light on, crisis points in our lives are opportunity of renewal, growth, and meaningful change. They are gateways to something wonderful, in part because we realize that we were wrong to believe that such events would permanently damage us. It forces a person to ground them-selves in the knowledge of their true self and to really understand their true nature. To not be afraid to fall apart, because its a chance to rebuild ones self and further understand their personal happiness more extensively. These crisis points need to been seen as a miracle of design to reinvent a persons happiness. Although my happiness project was much more complex then a few concepts such as; the basic understanding of happiness, holistic thinking, the exchange of giving and receiving, gratitude, and crisis points, they were the parts of my pursuit of happiness that effected me the most. Gretchen Rubin explains that, Between the ages of twenty and forty we are engaged in the process of discovering who we are, which involves learning the difference between accidental limitations which it is our duty to outgrow and the

necessary limitations of our nature beyond which we cannot trespass with impunity (gretchenrubin.com). It is my obligation to myself to constantly grow as a person and understand the parts of my soul that inspires euphoria in not only myself but also others. These past few months, while exploring the concept of happiness, my happiness, and others happiness pushed me to be a different person. It inspired me to think differently about the world, and to discover who I am, and how to be the best possible me. These ideas and understandings have changed my view on happiness and sparked a part of me that is thirsty for the knowledge of the world, of who we are. To not only understand how happiness affects everyone around me but also how we can grasp more of that joy. I am excited to implement these ideas in my life and see where they take me.

Works Cited Chopra, Deepak. The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Pocketbook Guide to Fulfilling Your Dreams. San Rafael, CA: Amber-Allen Pub., 2007. Bernard Kelvin Clive. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. <bkc.name>. Lyubomirsky, Sonja. The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want. New York: Penguin, 2008. Print. Lyubomirsky, Sonja. "The How of Happiness." The How of Happiness. Penguin Press, n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013. <http://thehowofhappiness.com/>. Lyubomirsky, Sonja. The Myths of Happiness: What Should Make You Happy but Doesn't, What Shouldn't Make You Happy but Does. New York: Penguin, 2013. Print. "Practice Gratitude To Increase Well-Being." Larry Berkelhammer. N.p., 21 Aug. 2012. Web. 09 Dec. 2013. <http://www.larryberkelhammer.com/>. Rubin, Gretchen. "Do You Accept These Paradoxes of Happiness?" The Happiness Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013. <http://gretchenrubin.com>. Simon, David. "Discover Your Abundance Through Gratitude." The Chopra Center | Balance. Heal. Transform. Toll Free: 888.424.6772. Gloria Lam and Scott Johnson, Design and Technology, 2012. Web. 09 Dec. 2013. <http://www.chopra.com/>.