In the last 10 weeks I have been leading a happiness conversation for Airmen on Wednesday evenings at FE Warren. I began with what I know from years of experience, a master’s degree in counseling, listing to a podcast (The Happiness Lab) and several books I have read over the last couple of years. As I have been leading these conversations I have learned and been reminded about some important elements that relate to happiness.
First, I have been reminded that knowing about what makes me happy knowing considerably different than doing what it takes to be happy. My best example comes from trying to develop this website. I made a couple of websites for school projects over the last couple of years, but nothing prepared me for how hard it would be for me to learn to use the WordPress program. I spent several hours trying to develop the site with very marginal success. I found a great YouTube video, every step with no step missed and watched it several times (I think it was about 1.5 hours) and got a few things to work, but was disappointed in the results.
Two hours turned into three, and two days turned into four, I found that I was angry and frustrated and it was very difficult to return to a state of happiness. While I was angry and frustrated I found it difficult to be still and just breath. I knew that if I could just be still my anger would dissipate, but it was so hard to just be still. My website was broken and I wanted to fix it. I found I was able to return to a state of happiness when I saw a way forward, and often my attempts ended without me being able to see that way.
This small example reminds me that it is easier to talk about happiness and more difficult TO DO the small things that make us happy.
