The Measuring Cup

What is the true measure of happiness? 

Is it the number of cars you drive? The number of real estate and properties you own? The pairs of shoes and luxurious clothing you wear? Or the digits you have in the bank? 

There must be something more than just  materialistic desire and superficiality.

To measure speed, we use the speedometer; for time, we use the clock and the calendar; for mass, we use the weighing scale;  for temperature, we use the thermostat; for liquids, we use the measuring cup. In a world where almost everything is quantifiable, what about human happiness? What is the true measure of happiness?

You’re reading this probably because you’re curious to know how to measure happiness. Or, you might have felt as though today  is not just “your day”. Or you might be going through an emotional state of being and trying to search for something to brighten up your day.

Life coach Amy Young in her Mantra Monday YouTube videos says “Own it”. It is essential to acknowledge and to feel whatever  mood or emotions you are in right now. Deal with the sadness, the sorrow and the pain. Little by little, allow yourself to get soaked by your emotions like a soft drizzling rain tip-tapping on your window. Feel it. Own it. Don’t ignore it.

The common response to this would be “No, I don’t have the time to get emotional.” 

But remember what Plato said:

 “An unexamined life is a life not worth living.” 

Ask yourself: lately, have you been examining? Have you been reflecting and contemplating? Is your life worth living?

Sure, it takes a lot of time, practice and courage to feel and process these emotions. Most of us tend to just bury these by getting busy with the mundane activities at work, in school, or at home. But once you’ve dealt with these emotions,  your thoughts become clearer, your work productivity increases, your sense of purpose becomes more evident and your overall well-being or state of happiness improves.

Psychologists Lyubomirsky and Lepper have developed the Subjective Happiness Scale or the SHS which is a 4-item scale of global subjective happiness, a trusted and proven tool used to measure the construct of subjective happiness. This test is an evaluation of one’s own life and the person’s moods and emotion, which, according to psychologists are contributory factors to subjective well-being or happiness.

Another tool you can use to measure your level of happiness is the Oxford Happiness Inventory which is a happiness tool consist of survey questions with a scoring system developed by psychologists Argyle and Hills at Oxford University.

You can use all these tools to scientifically measure your current and overall level of happiness. But, the true measure of happiness is that of a life well lived. What is a “life well-lived”? For most, this question, is difficult to answer, as we have various and different definitions of what consists a life well lived.

A life well lived, could somehow be related to the final stage in Maslow’s pyramidic structure of Hierarchy of Needs, wherein other needs (physiological, physical, mental and emotional) must first be met before one can attain what he called as “self actualization”.

A life well lived is simply the kind of life wherein the person lived in a dynamic pursuit of truth and sense of purpose. In other words, a life well-lived is achieved when the person is doing good.

Aristotle, used the term “eudaimonia”, which means flourishing or happiness in Greek. He noted that there is an end goal to which all human actions and activities are directed to: to flourish, to be happy. He further said that eudaimonia or happiness is the highest good of human endeavors and the true measure of success as a human being.               

The highest human good is relative to good human functioning, which is a good application of an activity of a rational soul: human reasoning parallel to virtue. 

Virtue is a subset of good qualities or state of character that finds expression both in purpose and in action. Aristotle presented two types of virtue: intellectual and moral. Intellectual virtue appeals to practical reason  while moral virtue are means of action and passion expressed in good purpose. 

The intellectual virtue is inseparably linked with moral virtue, as one cannot create an appropriate plan for a good life without an accurate assessment of decisions to be made. One can achieve true and genuine happiness if the person used freedom to know what’s good (Intellectual Virtue) and practice what’s good (Moral Virtue). These thereby leads the thoughts, words and deeds towards maximizing potentialities to flourish and unfold and to live a life well-lived.

Aristotle says: 

"Only when correct reasoning and right desire come together does truly virtuous action result."

On the other hand, living well would also mean helping others attain happiness because one cannot flourish alone. As humans are social beings, helping others attain happiness is also contributory towards being happy. I once stumbled upon a TEDtalk in YouTube by Adam Leipzig in which he presented 5 questions to simplify the mind boggling question: “What is your life purpose?”. During his talk, Leipzig noted that people whose lives helped transform others live life more meaningfully and happily.

These five questions are:

     1. Who are you?  

           For this question, simply insert your first name or nickname.

          2. What do you do?

What do you love to do? This is something you enjoy doing be it your current job or your hobby or even something you’ve always wanted to do. In order to simplify things if there’s a lot of answers coming to your mind, Leipzig emphasized to focus on something at the moment that you feel “supremely qualified to teach other people”.

3. Who do you do it for?

For this question, think of the people who may be directly/indirectly benefiting from your answer to the previous question.

4. What do those people want and need?

The needs or wants these people derived from what you do could be financial, economic, emotional, mental, physical or even spiritual.

5. How did they change as a result?

With their needs and wants met, how did these people change or transform as a result of what you did for them?

Now, put your answers together to form one statement.

For example: I am Chris, a volunteer Catechist for children in the community, in need of spiritual ministry and catechism for their spiritual growth and guidance. I help these kids find their way through life guided by the Christian principles, teachings and beliefs. 

There you have it, the tools to measure happiness, Aristotle’s Eudaimonia and virtues and Liepzig’s 5-questions for finding your life purpose. Today, may your cup of be filled with joy and contentment as your journey through life in pursuit of happiness.

References

Aristotle Greek Philosopher. Retrieved August 9, 2018 from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aristotle/Philosophy-of-mind#ref923106

How to know your life purpose in 5 minutes| Adam Leipzig|. Retrieved August 9, 2018 from  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVsXO9brK7M

Lyubomisky, S  & Lepper, H. 1997. A Measure of Subjective Happiness: Preliminary Reliability and Construct Validation. Retrieved August 9, 2018 from http://sonjalyubomirsky.com/wp-content/themes/sonjalyubomirsky/papers/LL1999.pdf

The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire. Retrieved August 9, 2018 from https://www.doctoroz.com/article/oxford-happiness-questionnaire