Happiness List

[Zane]

I realized that in my late teens around 18 and 19 years old, I had a quarter life crisis where I lost my exuberance, my sense of humor, my happiness and my creativity and I realized that happiness and fulfillment can be self-created. I'm not trying to be deep or piggybacking off philosophers, I'm just giving my own experience. I created a Happiness List to remind me of how happiness can be found and how happiness is so broad and yet so simple. I started the list in late 2014 and I've focused on it from late 2014 to 2016 and it's amazing how many great things have been happening in my own life. I feel like I've re-captured the missing feelings of being highly creativity, a deep sense of childlike joy, re-capturing nostalgia, and being fully immersed in a flow state or being completely in the moment. For Summer 2016, I have 45 happy moments on my Happiness List. I highly recommend creating a Happiness List because it's purpose is to keep your life in perspective, to deepen your gratitude, to live in the moment, to fondly remember the past, and to be excited about the future. 2015 and 2016 are the best years of my life and I'm ecstatic about what the future brings and for adulthood and for my graduation.

I bought self help books to fill the void and I would also struggle with sleep that I would spend my days feeling like a zombie. I realized that this crisis was within me and I needed to discover the cure in myself and I discovered that happiness and fulfillment are self-created. I needed to rediscover my inner artist and the inner storyteller who would gush about movies, theater, cartoons and stories with such passion that I drew people towards me or got weird looks. I also wanted to recapture the child who would get so playful and passionate that he made stories come to life and would be so ecstatic that he connected with adults but turned off some of his peers.

My Twenties Journal and Happiness List have helped me recapture all those moments of happiness that I longed for like the desire to explore and create, the desire for novelty, the desire for new experiences, and the desire for happiness and the desire to play.

Edited July 8, 2016 by Zane

[Zane]

WOW!!!!! I just realized how much my happiness has skyrocketed and how many amazing experiences I've had this year and the past few years. I realized that I'm out of the internal prison of boredom and silent depression! I am re-discovering why I love life. I've been feeling the intense emotions of euphoria, laughter and that deep bonding. I'm not even 23 years old yet and I feel like my life will be transformed within a year or two. I need to take my happiness to the next level and my life is gaining a much clearer trajectory. After watching Leo's video on Personal Development Levels, I realized that I'm an Intermediate in certain levels and I want to advance to the Advanced Level. Right now, Spirituality isn't my highest priority because I've been focusing much more on my inner happiness. The area I want to become a master of is creativity where I feel deeply inspired and i'm on creative fire where my passion and my muse consumes me and I'm effortlessly creating stories. For my Happiness List from 2014 to 2016, I must have hundreds of events. So far for Summer 2016, I have 70 events on my Happiness List and Summer isn't even over yet.

Edited August 1, 2016 by Zane

[MIARIVEL]

A happiness list seems like an excellent idea. Gives us so many reason to be greatful for in this life.

[Zane]

I've been consistent with it for two years and I always make excellent progress on it! Now happiness is effortless for me! 

[ProblemSolving]

Surely it can improve life. Maybe would also be a good idea for me to start a happiness list. But I can't let go of the thought that a happiness list is something past and also external. The mind is something dynamic. We transform with every moment. By defining the things that make as "happy" we limit ourselves. I think that the best thing to do is to internalize happiness. Otherwise there will be this inner conflict all the time. I would prefer myself not needing a happiness list. The only time I want a happiness list is when I am very old and veeery oblivious and not even remembering my own name. Then I will have a paper sheet hanging in every room with the words: "Don't care about remembering your name. Care about the warm feeling inside you."

[Richard Alpert]

If there are things that make you happy, sure do them.

but what do we really need to be happy? I remember about a year ago, when i was tripping on muhsrooms there became this insight that if you have a roof on top of youre head, water, food and at least decent health that should be enough for human to be happy.

all the programming says we need this and that to be happy, but it´s false. A child doesnt need much to be happy, unless they have poop in theyre pants they are usually happy.

 

 

 

[Pelin]

We made this with my mum a year ago, just like a list of things that made us happy that day. The list went on like, feeding the stray cats, baking something, drinking nice coffee with loved ones etc. The idea came from a study that said patients were told to write down 3 things every day that made them happy for a while and it eventually helped them alleviate depression. So we decided to give it a try.

We did it for a month or so while I was visiting my parents and a little bit afterwards. Later I kind of felt that "doing" activities, or worse, "buying" does not make me happy at all. The list is a lie, like facebook pictures showing people having great fun 24/7. What makes me happy should be something different. So maybe chasing happiness is not the right thing, but being grateful with who I am and remaining positive is. And even though it means I do not actually "do" anything that would seemingly make me happy, I am content with where I am in my life path.

(And mom opened the subject last week. She had stopped doing it too and she said something like an action cannot make you happy at all, if it is not in you to be happy. I am so grateful she is my mom, she is apparently more conscious than I am )

[Eelco1981]

@ZaneI made such a list last year. Worked for me as well. I am happy that you found the method 12 years earlier than me!

[Zane]

14 minutes ago, Eelco1981 said:

@ZaneI made such a list last year. Worked for me as well. I am happy that you found the method 12 years earlier than me!

EXACTLY!!!!! I had my first quarter life crisis earlier which gives me a greater opportunity to live my life amazingly. Tell me about your own list because I'm curious about how you discovered happiness. What inspired the list? How did it benefit your life? 

[Zane]

During my quarter life crisis, I realized that I was having a string of failures, low energy, virtually no creative passion or even inspiration, restlessness and sleeplessness and I lost touch with my passions and my love for life and my freedom and happiness. My Happiness List is a major step in the right direction because it re-aligned me with my own happiness, it grounded me in the moment more and taught me to savor happiness like a great cup of coffee or a cup of tea, and I had moments of deep bliss. Through the List, I re-captured the emotions of bliss, being captivated and seduced by fiction, and feeling in love and relaxed in the moment. I'm sleeping much better, I'm much healthier, and I'm much happier but I feel like there are greater self-actualization opportunities on the horizon. Actualized.org helped me realize so much and I'm so grateful I discovered it earlier! My Happiness List was heavily inspired and based on Leo's Gratitude List and I gave myself a daily commitment to the list. I re-created my life and I'm truly starting to taste and savor how rich and delicious freedom and happiness can be. This List is a huge step towards self-actualization but I feel like I can go even farther. 

Edited August 6, 2016 by Zane

[Dominik Skupina]

Hi Zane , could you please tell me more about the happiness list ? How it works ? Thank you 

[Eelco1981]

@Zane I also did the gratitude list exercise. Later it was an assignment in Leo's Life Purpose Course to dig into your past and find the moments when you were most happy. In a flow. Then you begin to recognize a pattern. I am always happy when I am doing This of That. Activities that seemingly have no connection to one another, suddenly click and make sense. That's when you find out WHAT makes you happen. After that, in the Life Purpose Course, you have to do some strengths assessments. Then things begin to click more and more. You see that you are most happy when you are using your strengths. You can read about this theory in books like A....... H........  by M..... S....... from the recommended book list you can purchase at Actualized.org.

Once you know what makes you happy (which activities) it becomes easier and easier to make those moments happen, rather than waiting for them to happen spontaneously.

[Dominik Skupina]

5 hours ago, Eelco1981 said:

@Zane I also did the gratitude list exercise. Later it was an assignment in Leo's Life Purpose Course to dig into your past and find the moments when you were most happy. In a flow. Then you begin to recognize a pattern. I am always happy when I am doing This of That. Activities that seemingly have no connection to one another, suddenly click and make sense. That's when you find out WHAT makes you happen. After that, in the Life Purpose Course, you have to do some strengths assessments. Then things begin to click more and more. You see that you are most happy when you are using your strengths. You can read about this theory in books like A....... H........  by M..... S....... from the recommended book list you can purchase at Actualized.org.

Once you know what makes you happy (which activities) it becomes easier and easier to make those moments happen, rather than waiting for them to happen spontaneously.

Yeah that's a good to know . The toughest part is to make a living out of it in most cases :-) 

[Eelco1981]

@Dominik Skupina That is one of the topics in the LPC also. How to make money out of your passion. But Leo gives a lot of examples of people making a living of a hobby that is really weird. There is a market for almost everything. You just have to make yourself stand out, make yourself unique, find your niche. And find your market. But also stay realistic. You won't be successful selling snow to Eskimos. You might have to move to another place to do that.

Edit: or you might even pull that one off making it Purple, low-carb, sugar-free, gluten-free, purple, blessed-by-a-yogi-snow.

Edited August 8, 2016 by Eelco1981

[Dominik Skupina]

@Eelco1981 Oh yeah  :-D there is many possibilities you can pull that one off but still it's the hardest one in my opinion and experience :-) 

So what is your niche you will be or you are focusing on ? :-) is it : Purple, low-carb, sugar-free, gluten-free, purple, blessed-by-a-yogi-snow ? :-D

[Eelco1981]

@Dominik Skupina I don't want to go to much off topic. This thread is still about Zane's happiness list. I did not finish the Life Purpose Course yet. I am polishing the results. And also, if I'd tell you what I am going to do, I'd have to kill you...

[Dominik Skupina]

@Eelco1981 ok :-)

 

[Dominik Skupina]

@Zane

Hi Zane , could you please tell me more about the happiness list ? How it works ? Thank you 

[Zane]

 The Happiness List is extremely simple!! Write down any recent moments of happiness you had and list them out. You can type it out and write it by hand! 

[Dominik Skupina]

@Zane  oh ok ... so it's similar to gratitude list :-) Thanks !