Do One Thing Every Day that Makes You Happy
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.
- 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…
- 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.
- 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.
- 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?
- 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!
Hi Glenn
This blog has caused me to think about that little saying. Here’s my take. “Do one thing a day
that makes you happy” Since I’ve read that saying I have tried to do just that. More so to find the
thing that made me happy. The “thing” usually never happens to be the same so far. And it has
mostly always been found in a reflective process. It has been as simple as
stopping along side the road to watch the sun set or seeing my kids hug each other when they get
ready for bed or forgiving someone for what they have said or done that I perceived to be injurious
to me or the making new friends or deciding not to have a cigarette when a craving comes….. the list
seems endless now that I sit & think of the “thing” each day. I have resolved not to set out each
day to purposely to do The One Thing although that it may come to be that someday but just to
go through with my daily life & be caught in the moment that something happens & there it is,
the one thing that day that has made me happy.
Now there’s also the point of setting out each day where the one thing becomes a task if you will,
will this make you happy if there are obstacles the make the thing end result seem more trouble
than it seemed at the start? If your thing that day was to build a bird house as an example & at the
end of the project you are less satisfied with the result, you have achieve your goal of building
the “thing” but are not happy with the “thing” – has your day failed?
If you make a mental recording as your day goes you can find many things that have made you
happy & thinking of the big picture, in my opinion at least, makes this saying work best. If for
some reason I get to the end of the day & think. Hmmm I really can’t thing of anything that has
made me happy so far I can just lean over & kiss my lovely wife on the cheek & then drift off
happily to sleep.