THE HAPPINESS LIST

Years ago, I did a small experiment which helped me become happier in a very short time. Doing this experiment is as easy as making a grocery list, and it works.

I took a piece of paper, and divided it into two parts by drawing a line in the middle. On the left side I wrote ‘Things which make me happy’, and on the right side I wrote ‘Things which make me unhappy’.

Then I took half an hour to jot down things which make me happy on the left side and things which make me unhappy on the right side. After those thirty minutes, I had an amazing clarity about what I should be doing to be happier and what I should avoid doing to be unhappier.

That list has become a road-map for my life since then. That list has kept improving with new additions and removals, and it will keep going through changes throughout my life. But the point is, now I know exactly which directly I must choose to stay happy and content.

Since then I have suggested this method to my friends, and some of them have given very positive reviews about it. On the basis of my experiences and their feedback, I have realized that the success of this method depends on one thing: our honesty with ourselves.

It’s very important that we are very honest with ourselves while making this list. We shouldn’t put anything in the list just because others like doing it. The biggest danger comes from being under peer pressure. Many times we try to enjoy something only because many others are enjoying it and we don’t want to be left behind.

For example, let’s take travelling. It has become the most popular hobby nowadays. It feels good when people travel, post pictures on social networking sites and get attention from others. It’s easy to get enticed by it even if many of us don’t enjoy travelling very much. If we put it in the left side of the list, very soon we are going to feel stressed because it’s not giving us inner happiness, and we are doing it just to be a part of the crowd.

Similarly we shouldn’t put anything in the right side of the list just because others dislike doing it. This list should come from our inner conviction, not from the desire for outer validation.

Actually we all keep making this list in our mind unconsciously while choosing to do things. But when we put this list on a paper, it helps us think harder to know ourselves and gives us a definite road-map for happiness.

That’s it. Maybe we all should try doing this experiment at least once. It may take just a few minutes and give us lifelong results.

#buddhappiness #thehappinesslist