Finding happiness today can be difficult, especially in an era where we are experiencing the effects and the aftermath of a global pandemic, which caused a lot of people to be unemployed or stuck at home and feeling sad and alone. Because of the pandemic, most people would say that happiness is a rare feeling nowadays, as there are no more events or moments that would make us happy since the world is full of negativity.
However, there will be a silver lining to every possible situation, and it is up to us to find that positive side to everything. The first step to finding out the positivity in the world is to discover your own happiness, which could be hard if you don’t know how to do it. Here are some to make you understand more about what makes you happy.
Take an Online Happiness Quiz
The first way to understand what makes you happy is to take a happiness quiz, which can be taken online for free on dozens of websites around the internet. Many of these happiness quizzes are not entirely accurate, but they will give you a better idea of what makes you happy in hindsight. Take one or two quizzes and match the results to see what aspect of happiness comes out twice in the quizzes. If one activity comes out twice in those quizzes, then there is a high chance that the activity is truly what makes you happy.
Use a Happiness App
Another method to know your happiness is by downloading and using an app that is created to track your happiness or find out what makes you happy. A happiness app would usually ask you questions throughout the day, which would help in determining your happiness. The app can also store data about your happiness and ultimately provide you with answers to understand more about the things that make you the least and most happy. If you are going to use a happiness app, make sure to use it every day so that it can provide more accurate data.
Reflect on Your Happiness
Sometimes, all you need is a quiet room to understand more about yourself and what makes you happy. Reflect on your experiences and see which moments truly brought you happiness in life. Happiness could be found in simple things, like cooking or eating delicious food, but it could also be found in more specific moments and experiences, like skydiving or trekking. Have some reflection by yourself in order for you to concentrate on your thoughts better and to have a better sense of self awareness. Try to add a little bit of meditation to your reflection to have a clearer and relaxed mind.
Make a List of What Makes You Happy
A simple way to determine your happiness is by making a list of what makes you happy. This could be a hard task to do if you have no idea of what brings you happiness, but you can reflect or meditate on it to have clearer answers. You can go back to remembering past experiences and see which events brought you happiness, and then write those moments down on a piece of paper.
For example, if sharing your happiness with others makes you happy – go do it. You will find yourself much more relaxed than ever.
By listing down the things that make you happy, you will be able to remember them more so that you can do, use, or visit them again. If you have once visited a theme park and it made you happy, you can visit it again and see if it produces the same results for your emotions or feelings.
Rediscover Your Hobbies
If you are a person that is now busy with work or school, there is a chance that you have already forgotten about most of the hobbies that you have discovered when you are a child. Hobbies are what make most of us happy, so the best way for you to understand your happiness is to rediscover your hobbies and find out what it is about them that brings you happiness. You can start reading books of fiction, self-help, self-care, or poetry, or you can start relearning how to play instruments. Rediscover your hobbies so that you will have a concrete idea of one or more activities that give you happiness.
Talk to Your Loved Ones about It
Talking to your friends and family about your happiness is great, as they may provide some opinions about you and they may actually know more about what makes you happy than yourself. Talk to them about happy moments that you have experienced with them, or just ask them about what makes them happy. Their happiness may be the same as yours, so you can do the same activities, hobbies, and experiences that bring them happiness.
Do Pets Make You Happy?
Pets have been the biggest sources of joy and gleam for humans for centuries. They have been shown to cheer people up, especially their owners, as they are regarded as the source of endless love, loyalty, and affection.
If you have never owned a pet but have observed yourself around them and felt genuinely happy, then pets make you happy! Therefore, you can redefine your happiness by owning a pet and keeping it near and dear to you every day.
Also, owning pets will make you socialize with people having common interests. Imagine how excited you will be planning a meetup with your friend and your pets enjoying together in a park.
Analyze What Does Not Make You Happy
Finding happiness does not mean you have to skip the part where you analyze things that make you unhappy. Being positive is good, but it might not help you realize your source of happiness. You have to dig into your life instances and analyze what aspects or situations make you unhappy.
Conducting a radically honest analysis of what has ever made your happiness dim and made you distraught will point you towards the source of joy. It is more like an inward exploration. You can jot down what is creating friction in your life and note the source of your resentment. Once you eliminate unhappy aspects from your life, you can then begin on the journey of discovering happiness.
Volunteering
Some people find happiness in helping people in any way they can. If you are one of those people, you can discover more opportunities in volunteer work. If you are an animal lover, you can look up animal shelters near you and volunteer to take care of them in different ways (physically or financially).
You can also look up old care homes or hospitals that need volunteers to ease the burden of the regular staff. The pleasure you feel after helping someone out, be it only sitting around older people and telling them a story or conducting a play session with children at the orphanage, is matchless.
Understanding your happiness is important for you to have a more positive outlook on life. Being positive will prevent you from experiencing too much sadness and loneliness, as it would give you hope that there is always something positive to look forward to every day. Find your happiness to live a much healthier life full of hope and positivity.