HAPPINESS

Have you ever thought about what makes you happy in life? Do you think that you already know it? Just sit down and write a list of all the things that make you happy and see how many of them are enjoyable? If you spend your time doing all these fun things, you’ll be really happy, won’t you?

Well, this may not always be true. For most people, fun isn’t enough for real happiness. A professor, Paul Dolan wrote a book called Happiness by Design and in the book he talks about happiness in a different way. He believes happiness comes from both pleasure and purpose. When most of the things on your list are about pleasure, that is what you think makes you happy. But people also need activities with purpose.

There are different ways we can find purpose in things. Some activities might be motivating because they work for the good of people and the world around us. Or you might help a team you are working in. If you’re a student, you need to study and pass exams. It’s usually easy to do well in subjects you like, but subjects you don’t like can be less motivating. They’re not fun for you, but you have to study so you need to find a purpose. Getting a high point in a subject you hate can be really hard. But you might go and join a study team with friends. Each person studies one part very well and then teaches it to the rest of the group. The purpose becomes helping the team.

Go back to your list of things that make you happy. How many of them are activities that bring purpose? Can you add any? Remember, some activities might bring both pleasure and purpose.

Now you should design a happy life. Paul Dolan thinks people need to ‘decide, design, do’. First decide what brings you pleasure and /or purpose that means your two lists. Then, don’t just think about these activities, fill your life with them. For example, maybe you love riding a bike but never have time to do it. So, you can ride a bike to school or the library or the shops. If you live too far away, take your bike on the bus or train. Get off early and ride the rest of the way. If you go in the car, put it in the back, stop a few kilometers away and ride the rest. Or move somewhere you can ride more. Some parts of our lives are good or bad luck and maybe we can’t change these, but we can still design the rest to make our lives happier.

(Adapted from the British Council website)