There are endless amounts of movies, books, studies, workshops, and the like that delve into what happiness really is, and why humans are seeking it. And I’ve been eating them up. It began when I watched a documentary called Happy, focused on what makes a variety of people happy all over the world, ranging from  high-power executives to tribes in remote areas. I loved it, intrigued as to how driven we are as a human race to be happy, and that a large piece of your happiness has to do with your actions to find it.

Then I watched Hector and the Search for Happiness, which was phenomenal, and quickly became one of my favorite films. A man named Hector decides to travel around the world to figure out how to be happy, making poor choices and learning new things along the way, all the while emotionally tied to his girlfriend back home in London. This film took what I had learned to a new level, offering some scientific explanations behind happiness while also making me laugh and wonder what makes me happy (or doesn’t, for that matter).

Happiness according to Hector and the Search for Happiness:

1. Making comparisons can spoil your happiness.

2. A lot of people think happiness means being richer or more important.

3. Many people only see happiness in their future.

4. Happiness could be the freedom to love more than one woman at the same time.

5. Sometimes happiness is not knowing the whole story.

6. Avoiding unhappiness is not the road to happiness.

7. Does this person bring you predominantly a. up b. down?

8. Happiness is answering your calling.

9. Happiness is being loved for who you are.

10. Sweet Potato Stew!

11. Fear is an impediment to happiness.

12. Happiness is feeling completely alive.

13. Happiness is knowing how to celebrate.

14. Listening is loving.

15. Nostalgia is not what it used to be.

 

Next source of happiness:

After hearing about the book, The Happiness Project, several billion times, it seemed, I decided to read it myself. Gretchen Rubin, an incredible author, plotted out a year-long plan to become a happy person in a somewhat pragmatic way. At first, I didn’t quite relate to her; although I am also a type-A person, I am not nearly as organized as she, and felt she reflected a friend of mine more than myself. But I kept reading.

I have yet to finish the book, but here is what most stuck out to me: being happy is a choice and it takes effort. It takes discipline and dedication.

A dear friend of mine and I had a rather serious discussion last night about how I feel like I’ve changed over the last year and a half exponentially, while he feels he hasn’t changed much at all. He still feels unhappy, and stuck in a persona he created a long time ago, unsure as to how to begin to get out. We’ve all been there, at least once, asking ourselves, “Where do I even begin?” It’s not a tangible effort, like, I’ll lose 20 pounds by July by going to the gym every day. (Not saying that’s easy, mind you, simply different).

Instead, we’re trying to measure our level of happiness… very bizarre. And through Hector’s list and Gretchen’s year-long pursuit of happiness, it’s clear that everyone works toward happiness in different ways. And that’s exactly right.

Being happy, changing, becoming the person you want to be (whether physically, mentally, or hopefully both, as they usually go together), takes time. There will be trial and error. There will be easy days and less easy days. But therein lies the proverb everyone loves to preach but no one likes to hear: the journey is its own reward.

Starting to choose joy in the little things inevitably makes you happy. If you want, you can get really annoyed by people, traffic, endless tasks, insufferable behavior, politics…. the list goes on. But instead of someone cutting you off on the road leading to you pulling next to them and giving them the look (or worse), maybe you cut them slack cause you’ve definitely made a mindless choice before. Instead of hating the tedious busy-work you might have at your job, use that as a moment to be thankful for a chance to breathe a little in the middle of the day.

 

Sometimes it’s the simple things. What makes you happy? I would love to know!

Namaste, loves.

Jenna

 

*Sometimes what makes me happy is finished projects… I began this post 8 months ago, and every time I came to write another I already had an agenda. Today, I just wanted to write. And those were my flowers for today