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Chase Wyant
Dr. Cottrill
LIBA 110
2 December 2014
Does Savoring Lifes Joys Make You Happier?
What is happiness? Happiness has many different definitions, mostly because
there are so many different opinions of what people think it is or even what it
means. There is no such thing as a wrong definition. To Gretchen Rubin, author of
New York Times Best Seller, The Happiness Project, happiness is something that
cant be defined. People just know when they are happy based on how they feel
(Rubin 7). There is not just one definition of happiness because happiness is
different things to different people. To me happiness means that you are satisfied
and enjoy your life as a whole. I also believe that happiness isnt a destination. There
is no such thing as everlasting happiness and once you get something or somewhere
you will always be happy after that moment. Your mood will always change and
there is nothing we can do about that.
Although there are a lot of opinions of what happiness is, everyone would
agree that happiness is important. There is no downside to being happy. Sonja
Lyubomirksy, professor of psychology, says that, Working on how to become
happierwill not only make a person feel better but will also boost his or her
energy, creativity, and immune system, foster better relationships, fuel higher
productivity at work, and even lead to a longer life (Lyubomirsky 2). In other
words, being happy provides its fair share of rewards and benefits.

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Everyone wants to know how to make themselves happier. The Dalai Lama
states, the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness (Dalai Lama and Cutler
13). The funny thing is, obtaining happiness is actually a simple thing to do.
Everyone has the power to make themselves happier. According to Gretchen Rubin,
In the determination of a persons level of happiness, genetics accounts for about
50 percent, life circumstances account for about 10 percent, and the remainder is a
product of how a person thinks and acts (Rubin 6). This means that fifty percent of
your happiness is predetermined, ten percent of it is based on things like age,
gender, income, and health, and the remaining forty percent is under your control
and up to you to change by the things you choose to do with your life. This is good
news for people who want to make themselves happier. To take on the challenge of
becoming happier one must be willing and motivated to take the first step on their
own.
Most people believe that becoming rich and successful will make them
happier but the problem with that is most people are looking for happiness in the
wrong places and the things that people get from the wrong places only have a small
influence on their happiness. According to Lyubomirsky, things like more money, a
bigger house, and a lower weight will not provide people with lasting happiness
(Lyubomirsky 48). Moods and feelings will always change. Have you ever noticed
the moment when you get a new phone? How happy it made you? How careful you
were when you would put it down? Then think of a few months afterwards; the
happiness the new phone brought you had eroded away and you find yourself
putting your phone down with less care. Lyubomirsky defines this type of concept

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as, hedonic adaptation. Hedonic adaptation is getting used to a new situation and it
no longer brings you happiness (Lyubomirsky 48). The excitement of a higher salary
or newer things, will eventually wear off and you will keep wanting more. To
increase happiness, you must be motivated to make changes. A change has to be
made in the persons life, and it cant be a materialistic investment because, as
mentioned before, that type of happiness is only temporary.
Over the course of the semester Dr. Cottrill had us take a surveys every once
in a while that we would gauge how satisfied we are with our lives this then
developed our baseline. I took the Satisfaction with Life Scale, which is 5
statements that you give a number 1-7 based on how much you agree with the
statement. My average for this scale was 20; this score told me that I was neither
satisfied nor unsatisfied. I was neutral. People who score in this range are generally
satisfied but have some areas where they would like to improve. (Diener). This is
important to my research because it gives me a control to compare to my new
happiness level after my two-week trial of savoring the joys of life.
What exactly is a happiness project? Gretchen Rubin is notorious for being an
expert on happiness projects. Her book, The Happiness Project, is all about how she
dedicated a year to trying to make herself a happier person. She describes a
happiness project as, an approach to changing your life. First is the preparation
stage, where you identify what brings you joy, satisfaction, and engagement, and
also what brings you guilt, anger, boredom, and remorse. Second is the making of
resolutions, when you identify the concrete actions that will boost your happiness.
Then comes the interesting part: keeping your resolutions (Rubin xvii). To start a

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happiness project you have to apply a change in your life that either brings you joy
or gets rid of something that makes you feel sad. You have to stick with this change
and try to increase your happiness. This book inspired me to take on a project.
According to my baseline, I feel that I am not as happy as I could be. Its not that I am
unhappy; I just feel that I could be happier. There are so many things in my life that I
should be happy about, but I feel that I am not at my full happiness potential.
Because such a big proportion of my happiness is in my power to change, I thought
this would be a fun and easy project to take on.
For my project I decided to savor lifes joys because I believe a big part of being
happy is to take in the beauties of life, big or small. Fred Bryant, a social psychologist
at Loyola University Chicago says, Its been presumed that when good things
happen, people naturally feel joy for it, (Bryant and Veroff) I feel people rush
through their busy days and forget to stop and smell the roses and just take
everything in and appreciate things in your life. Stacey Kennelly suggests, Try to
turn off your conscious thoughts and absorb positive feelings during a special
moment, such as taking in a work of art. Studies of positive experiences indicate that
people most enjoy themselves when they are totally absorbed in a task or moment,
losing their sense of time and place (Kennelly) It is important to take in the
moment and absorb all the things that happen in your life that cause you joy.
My project is important to the topic of happiness because I believe the
happiest of people savor lifes joys. Savoring lifes joys means that you stop to notice
the little things that make you happy. Geneen Roth, author of the scholarly article,
Stop and Smell the Roses says, we Americans are so busy multitasking that we

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are doing 31 hours of work in each 24-hour period (Roth). This means that
throughout life people rush through their everyday lives and miss out on the little
things.
Everyone has that one thing that makes them happier everyday, may it be
your favorite home cooked meal waiting for you when you get home or if you find
money you didnt know was in your pocket. It doesnt have to be something
extravagant that makes you happy. If you take the time to look around youll be
amazed to what could brighten your day. Barrie Davenport states that, Sunlight
boosts your mood and provides vitamin D. Being in nature enlivens your soul and
makes you feel connected to the world around you (Davenport). Even something as
simple as going outside on a nice day could have an impact on ones happiness. Its
good for people to acknowledge these things when they happen because those little
things are what are going to make you look at your day as a good one. When you
experience good days it can be reflect it as happy times.
The steps I took to track my happiness and how I savored lifes joys is when I
remembered to do so I would take a picture of something that made my happiness
rating increase. Being a wrestler who cuts weight most of the pictures I took
featured full and empty plates of food. I also used the happiness tracker on my
phone. Four times a day the app would send me a text with a link that would ask me
to complete a survey of questions asking about my happiness at that moment of
time. The surveys questions included many different types of questions such as
what you are doing, who you are with, how many people are you interacting with,
and how much sleep you got the night before. Then at the end of the fifty surveys the

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app made a happiness report that put all of my data into different charts and would
find correlations of when I was the happiest.
As you go through my pictures you will find that a good portion of them have
to do with food. As a wrestler I am required to watch my weight so I am able to be
competitive in a weight class, some know this as cutting weight. While cutting
weight I must eat smaller, healthier portions. The problem with that is you feel less
satisfied so when you are able to eat more and drink more you tend to appreciate
food more. One morning I went to Village Inn after cutting weight and I was very
hungry. After the meal I took a picture of my empty plate from where my food used
to be. The reason I took this picture is because the sight of an empty plate and a full
belly made me happy. Another one of my many food pictures I had was where I
made myself a sandwich that took the role as my lunch for the day. That beautiful
ham and turkey sandwich made my day.
I find a lot of joy in hanging out with friends. Sometimes when I am having a
bad or busy day my teammates who live on my floor help me forget my stress. I took
a few pictures with some of my teammates when I was hanging out with them. My
dad has always told me that I will always remember my days in college and that they
are some of the greatest and most fun days of my life. When I heard this I figured he
was talking about parties or when I was doing unintelligent things with my friends.
Ever since I moved in I realized that the most fun Ive had thus far is just hanging out
and laughing with my teammates and friends.
Music is one of those things that just make people feel good. Have you ever
had that one song that hit you just right or a song that you can just relate to? Or how

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about a song that just made you want to get up and start dancing and singing? Well
thats what music does to me; music brightens my day. I remember sitting in study
table one day pushing through my never-ending list of homework to do and Pandora
played a song that made me sing along. The rest of the time in study table seemed to
go a lot smoother because of the music that was playing put me in a better mood.
That day I did not mind doing all that homework.
Throughout a typical week I go to my classes where I am assigned a
tremendous amount of homework every night. It goes without saying that my week
is stressful. You would think that ones happiest and favorite day would be a coin
flip between the start of the weekend on Friday or on Saturday where you dont
have classes or work but according to trackyourhappiness.org my happiest day of
the week is Sunday. I spend a usual Sunday doing activities that
trackyouhappiness.org rate as my top activities that report me as being the
happiest. The activities include rest and relaxing. The other activity in which I am at
my happiest is when I am hanging out with my teammates and friends, which I also
do the most of on Sundays. So it makes sense as to why Sundays would be my
happiest day even though I have classes the next day.
Although this project did not improve my happiness it helped me notice the
joys in life. Helped me remember to stop and take in the moment. After this project I
was more grateful and appreciated the little things more often. I hope I can continue
this and hopefully develop a habit that will make me happier in time. What others
can take from my project is the importance of noticing the little things and taking
time to get absorbed in the moment. People should do this project because I believe

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I think its important to take time to appreciate the little things in life. I also believe
that it will be enjoyable to look back through the pictures you have taken and will be
reminded of all the things that made you happy, who knows maybe that will make
you day as well like it did for me. What I would change or recommend for someone
who is thinking about doing this project is that make sure that you remember to
take a picture of a physical thing that causes your happiness rating to increase. Also
I would recommend making a note as to why you took the picture and why it makes
you happier. I believe I learned a lot about happiness in this project and I will admit
at first I dreaded it and believed it to be more work that I did not want to do but now
I am glad I did it and that I enjoyed it.

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Works Cited
Bryant, Fred B., and Joseph Veroff. Savoring: A New Model of Positive Experience.
New York: Psychology, 2006. Print.
Dalai Lama, and Howard C. Cutler. The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living.
New York: Penguin Group, 1998. Print.
Davenport, Barrie. "26 Ways To Savor Life Rather Than Waste It." Live Bold and
Bloom. Live Bold and Bloom, 2014. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.
Diener, Ed. Understanding the SWLS Score. Ed Diener. University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign Psychology. 2009. PDF. 24 Nov. 2014.
Kennelly, Stacey. "10 Steps to Savoring the Good Things in Life." Greater Good.
Berkeley University, 23 July 2012. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.
Lyubomirsky, Sonja. The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You
Want. New York: Penguin Group, 2007. Print.
Roth, Geneen. Stop and Smell the Roses. Prevention Oct. 2006: 79+. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.
Rubin, Gretchen. The Happiness Project. New York: Harper Collins, 2009. Print.