Criteria for Happiness

In as much as the yoga thing is something I think would make me happy, I've decided to define for myself some criteria for happiness.

So far, these are what I consider a good base line of well-being:

1) physical and psychological health
2) loving relationships
3) meaningful work

Pretty broad. So, how to achieve these criteria for happiness? Let's see.

1) physical and psychological health

a) adequate sleep
b) good nutrition
c) exercise
d) stress reduction

I think I can do all four of these. The most slippery one, however, being stress reduction, which is largely mental - and a stressful state of being is really what I think of when I think of the "psychological" part of this criterion. But the other three elements (sleep nutrition exercise) really help a lot with the fourth. We'll see.

2) loving relationships

a) logistical effort
b) patience
c) forgiveness
d) generosity maybe?

Man, that gets foggy fast. I love my friends and family etc., but it takes a lot of work to maintain connectedness, so that's the logistical effort - phone calls and dinner plans and driving all the hell around. And then to have not just the connectedness, but also real, rewarding intimacy, you need extra patience when people make you crazy, same with forgiveness if you perceive some kind of trespass, generosity when you need to combat feeling judgmental and dismissive or jealous or something . . . maintaining a mindset of love for your close relationships, not just on the outside, but truly in your mind, takes a lot of effort. That's kind of a grim view of friendship! Oh well.

3) meaningful work

a) challenge
b) substance
c) enjoyment
d) community

I feel that I am still seeking my meaningful work. I have lots of things that I like to do, like read, play music with friends, do some yoga, and cook and talk about food, but nothing that I yet consider my main work in this world. This could be a problem of perception (I'm already engaged in my meaningful work) or of finding it (need to try more stuff). I'm a little skeptical that I need to try more stuff. I think my search for meaningful work is a problem of directed effort, and that I have pursuits that can be channeled into challenging, substantive, enjoyable, community-connected work for myself. I think it's a matter of connecting the dots.

Hoorah, happiness bound!