The Science of Happiness

During the early days of the pandemic, a friend shared a link to the most popular class offered by Yale University through an online course provider.  The class is aptly titled the Science of Well Being and Happiness”.  The name intrigued me and since I have been on a quest and determined to live joyfully and with purpose, I decided to enroll.

It is a 10-week course and it requires a minimum of 4 hours a week if you are determined to make the most of it.  I elected to pay about $50 in order to be eligible for a certificate upon completion.  And the journey started.  The first week called for the completion of a couple of surveys with a battery of questions designed to help determine your current state of happiness.  In addition, you were asked to rate your level of happiness.  Which I did.

The goal is to self-evaluate once more at the completion of the course and determine whether or not your scores improved after the ten-week class.  Mine improved substantially and since it took me over 10 weeks to get to the finish line, I had ample time to learn, understand and use the tools provided.

My favorite consisted of an early exercise done in collaboration with the VIA Institute on Character.  The objective of taking this survey is to identify and learn to use your innate strengths to achieve well-being.  The theory is that, in doing so, it will be easier to develop new habits designed to help you cultivate happiness.  If you have any doubt about your purpose and calling in life, this exercise is designed to enlighten and provide you with a clear picture of what comes to you naturally and brings you contentment and satisfaction if you apply yourself.

The results helped confirm my passions and therefore my purpose.  It also identified potential actions that would result in well-being by creating habits from the practice of actions using my greatest strengths, which are: 1) Spirituality, 2) Curiosity, 3) Gratitude, and 4) Perspective, in that order.  The character strengths are grouped under a set of six virtues.  Curiosity and Perspective fall under Wisdom.  Spirituality and Gratitude fall under Transcendence.  The Virtue of Wisdom speaks to the strengths that help us gather and use knowledge while  Transcendence describes the strengths that help us connect to the larger universe and provide meaning to our lives, (www.viacharacter.org)

Additional research on my strengths on the VIA site led me to the following characterizations:

• Having spirituality as a strength provides a sense of meaning and of being grounded.  It increases optimism, and helps provide a sense of purpose for life.  The practice of meditation, prayer, acts of kindness can be used to enhance well-being.  I chose meditation as one tool I wanted to re-develop as a habit and actively use it to navigate life during the time of COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter.
• Research demonstrates that “curious people are interested in exploring new ideas, activities and experiences and have a strong desire to increase their own personal knowledge.Curiosity is often the entry point to many lifelong hobbies, passions, and pursuits”, (www.viacharacter.org).  My favorite hobbies such as gardening, sewing, reading, and taking classes such as this one can be traced to my strong penchant towards curiosity.
• Gratitude is found to be one of the strengths most connected to the experience of a meaningful life.I am always grateful, even in my worst moments.  And when I am not, I almost feel guilty about it.  I am aware of the many blessings of my life.  Although I earned many of them, often at the price of painful experiences, I know that at the end of the day, the blessings come from a source outside of me and far outweigh the difficulties and challenges.
• Perspective is the ability to see the bigger picture in life. It is the ability to see the forest as well as the trees.  Perspective allows people to learn from their mistakes and from the strengths of others.  With Perspective comes the ability to help others explore different points of view, giving concrete advice, or simply providing a listening ear (www.viacharacter.org).  The biggest compliment someone can pay me is to tell me that I am wise.  This is a quality that I’ve always aspired to achieve, and this, from as long as I can remember.  This and the strong feeling or intuition that I have something to contribute to this world led to the birthing of My Voice My Journey.

And so, I have used my time in lockdown for self-introspection and a search/confirmation of what gives my life joy and purpose.  And in doing so, I became happier and more joyful.  If you believe that you might benefit from a similar experience, I encourage you to further research and invest time in developing you.  If anything, you will receive confirmation and increase your satisfaction for knowing that you are on the right path.  And this leads to much peace and serenity.

Wishing you a Joy filled Summer.