Science, Religion, Politics and in the pursuit of truth – HappyPsychotic

Do One Thing Every Day that Makes You Happy

// December 22nd, 2009 // GlenncloseAuthor: Glenn Name: Glenn C
Email: happypsychotic@gmail.com
Site: http://www.happypsychotic.com
About: Glenn is 36 years old and now lives in a small town in Northern Ontario with his wife of 13 years and 2 kids. He has been a foster parent for 10 years in 3 different cities. He graduated from Radio College of Canada (Toronto) in 1993 as an Electronic Engineering Technologist and has been working in the electronics industry ever since with companies like Nortel. Glenn does a good amount of reading, studying and thinking about such topics as philosophy, psychology, physics (Quantum Mechanics), religion and science. Glenn does have an I.Q. of > 140 (as does Chris) which is categorized as genius but hasn't bothered joining any I.Q. type clubs. He is very logical and analytical and always looking for a way to make a better world - primarily through self-improvement and in helping others to improve themselves. Most importantly, he constantly re-evaluates his priorities and ensures his time is spent wisely - like working on this site.See Authors Posts (92)

Do One Thing Every Day that Makes You Happy
This is a great saying that I came across at a friend’s house recently that is great on many levels.  It has caused me to do a little more thinking, which is always good.  Here are some of the ways you can think on this.

1. I believe that the simple and straightforward interpretation here is to take some time on a regular basis to do something enjoyable and this will help you have a happy life.  Thinking about it like this, I would agree wholeheartedly, but there are some caveats…
2. One problem with this saying is that if you take it to its extreme, then you could say that selfishly doing what you want all the time (which are things that make you happy) would be a good thing.  Unless you emphasize the “one thing” part and say you should limit yourself to only one happy thing a day – but I doubt that was the original intent here.
3. I have a real problem defining something that makes me happy.  Are we talking about something that gives me a momentary pleasure like eating chocolate?  Or long term pleasure like exercising daily to promote a long life?  I think most people would think it meant something in the middle, like a medium-term happiness like playing with your kids and them showing they love you.
4. And what about something that makes me happy the first few times I do it, but it becomes less and less pleasurable over time?  Isn’t almost everything like that?  So how could that be a good recommendation?  Should you keep mixing it up and do a different happy thing every day?  Maybe you should start by asking yourself what happy thing could I do 100 or 1000 times and still enjoy?  The list becomes a lot shorter now doesn’t it?
5. Isn’t it also true that “the sweet doesn’t taste as sweet without the bitter”?  So couldn’t we say that it’s healthy to be depressed and down in the dumps occasionally because you feel so much happier when you get out?

Well, I hope I haven’t totally killed the saying for you, because it is a good one.  Be a Happy Psychotic today!