How happy are you?

Photo credit: Personal Excellence

Have you thought about it? On a whole, big picture, how happy are you? Right now? Today? This week? This month? This year?

How happy do you want to be? Whoa, deep question, huh? It's a tough one to be honest about sometimes because it requires an untainted view of our thoughts and actions. It requires the truth.

And then the why? Why do you want to be happy (or unhappy as the case may be)? Why are your thoughts and actions making you happy? Why don't you act that way all the time so you'll always be happy?

Not that easy, is it?

Celes over at personalexcellence.co is currently running a 21-Day Positivity Challenge (21DPC). You may recall me participating in her challenges before, and I always learn something. I'm not officially participating in this one, but I hope to address some of the prompts here.

Plus, I'm currently enrolled in a strength and resilience stress management course through my health insurance provider, and it recommended working on my positivity. Join me, let's think about how we can be rays of sunshine instead of dark rain clouds.

Blah. LOL!

Here we go: on a scale of 1-10, how happy are you as a person? Not in time, but as a personality. And if you're not scoring yourself as a shiny, perfect 10, why not?

Oh and before we all go think/blog/journal/discuss that, let's also identify at least one positive thing about today.

Ready? Go!

I would rate myself as a 6. Although I always feel I'm a misstep away from a 1 because of my past with depression. This is one area of my life I have worked on for the last 5 years or so, and I've made some progress, but I'm still not a pro.

I have trouble with sliding scales like this, so I went with deducting a point for each thing I'm unhappy with in my life. Major areas here, not minute details -- I'd be a -50 if we were playing that game.

So, I'm deducting one pint for finances. Sure, money can't specifically buy happiness, but I've learned you do need to reach a happiness-enabling threshold where you're not stressing about how to pay your bills and afford to do the little things that make you happy like indulge in hobbies and go out with friends. I'm not there yet.

The second point is deducted for my professional life. Oh I have it pretty good right now, and I know it, but I'm still left wanting more. I want to flex my creative muscle more. I want less red tape. I want more flexibility and variety. I want to be more involved in my passions professionally. No job or career is ever perfect, I realize that, but I still see a lot of room for improvement with mine. Either that or I just need to truly figure out what I want to do with my life.

I'm deducting another point for my laziness. I've gotten much better at proactively seeking out what makes me happy, but I need more get-up-and-go. When I feel like writing, I need to stop watching TV and write. When I know a day trio on a lazy Saturday will make me happier, I need to stop stressing about laundry and hit the road. Those types of things.

The final point I'm deducting because I've gotten so bad at feelings. I used to be amazing about talking emotions and getting it out there, but I think part of my depression-fighting arsenal is holding more in, ironically. I gotta face this stuff and share it with people who love me. It may be tough at first, but ultimately it will make me feel much better.

And, lastly, one positive thing about my day today? Tonight is the March Yelp Elite event, and it involves martinis in Providence's historic Federal Hill! Right up my alley!

Go on, share at least one of your answers in the comments below! Let' s get happy!