Awesomeology

Yes, that is a word. It is the study of things that are awesome.

Learning of this word led me to do a little research. In 2008 Author Neil Pasricha started a blog titled 1000 Awesome Things. His goal was to each day write about something that made him happy. He didn’t start this because his life was full of fun and happiness. In fact, he was getting divorced and his good friend attempted suicide. After another attempt, he succeeded.

He began the blog because his life was not full of contentment and joy.

I won’t go into details as to what his blog included, which eventually led to a book, The Book of Awesome and then a few more books.

This is more about what his experience taught him, as he spent each day looking for something positive or awesome, and wrote about it. You might guess the result.

He found more happiness.

Studies have been performed that actually show how your life can improve if every day you look for something that makes you happy or brings you joy. It will improve even more if you write it down. One published model shows that fifty percent of your happiness is based on genetics, ten percent of your happiness is based upon circumstances, and forty percent of your happiness is based on your intentional activities. Forty percent!

This just proves that we do have some control over our own happiness. Actually, a lot more than just our circumstances provide. I don’t want to discount the trauma and pain we go through. It’s important to deal with those in a healthy, productive way, and even seek help when we need to. It does, however, reveal that almost half of our happiness is up to us. Which I imagine will make some people angry, because then they have no one else to blame for their misery. Especially in the world we live in today, where you can find someone unhappy and miserable on every corner – and they are blaming someone else for it.

What are those intentional activities we can do? There is a wealth of resources available online or even at your local library or bookstore. A few simple things come to mind: writing down each day one or two things that make you happy, sharing with someone what those things are, showing others kindness, practicing forgiveness, and being creative.

Those are just a few, and it’s important to find what works for you.

Perhaps the lesson is, if you want to live a happier life, become an awesomologist.