Thursday, November 10, 2011

Happiness Hunting

hap·pi·ness[hap-ee-nis] noun

1. the quality or state of being happy.
2. good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy.

Yes, we all want to be happy.  But do people realize that they can be happy while doing their jobs?  The short answer is yes.  At Bainbridge Graduate Institute, we call this type of happiness, Right Livelihood, ie. the journey of aligning your life work to meaning, purpose, and the deeper yearning that is percolating within.

Ok, I understand that that might sound like a big task.  But we can start with something much smaller, by asking the question, what are the moments in your life when you are most happy? Now let's do a small exercise...

• Capture 5 images of happy moments that could relate to work (your current work life or intended livelihood)

• Tag each image with a description of up to six words

• Give your image a rating between 1 and 10 (1 is neutral; 10 is maximum joy)

Here are a few examples:

Life is a Highway. Ride It. (9)
 Dog is My Copilot (10)

Hard Shell. Soft Interior. (8)

Ok, now what stands out for you?  What is it that makes you most happy?

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for adding this to your leadership blog. When I did this exercise for class this summer, I found it both FUN and revealing about the things that I believe define my happiness.

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