5 Measures of Happiness

I have 5 ways I measure my level of happiness.  First, you might be wondering, why it is I measure my happiness? Because a few years ago I realised I didn’t know what made me happy and what didn’t.  Now I do.  What makes me happy is that I choose to be happy.  I do things that make me smile.  I play and have fun daily.  I laugh daily.  The realisation was simple – I could choose to be happy and make simple changes in my life to achieve that.  Part of them was knowing what I do when I am happy and then checking that these things were happening on a daily basis.   If I have most of these measures in my life – I am doing well or have things to improve on.  My five measures of happiness measured on a daily basis are:

1. How often I smile

2. How often I laugh

3. How well I sleep – there may be times when I don’t sleep as long as I would like (8 hours) but if it’s quality sleep that’s the main thing.  There will be times it isn’t and if I have some of the other measures going okay…then good!

4. How well I maintain my weight (this is NOT about body image.  I do not measure my weight or if I have lost or gained weight but how I maintain a healthy dress size.  I don’t get on the scales but I make sure I am active as part of this and have a dress size between 10 and 14).

5. How I treat others.  If I am resorting to sarcasm (which is an insult wrapped in humour) or are reactive or “snappy” or rude I am not treating others well.

At least 3 out of 5 of these going well is good enough for me.  If they are not….I do something about it.  I reflect and see what is not working for me in my life and I change it.

Sometimes that change might be uncomfortable or difficult – but if handled well and it returns a sense of happiness and peace then I do it!

How do you measure your level of happiness?