It’s true that all happiness isn’t created equal. But happiness is still happiness when it happens.
When I founded the Secret Society of Happy People I was working in the self-help field. While the field helps people find happiness, there’s more chit-chat about the “what’s wrong’s” that people are trying to fix or heal from than the “what’s right’s”. Even the cartoon posters that help people identify emotions have many more unhappy feelings than happy ones.
For kicks one day I thought I’d make of list of ten types of happiness. I actually came up with twenty-one. A few years later I expanded the list to thirty-one ~ one for every day during Happiness Happens Month.
My thought was if people looked for more types of happiness in their day-to-day activities, they’d ultimately realize they were happier than they might initially think they were.
It’s easy to recognize the obvious types of happiness like humor, celebrations, or enthusiasm. However some types of happiness are less obvious but equally important like relief, nostalgia, or honor.
If you’re looking for more types of happiness take the 31 Types of Happiness Inventory. You’ll probably discover you experience more happiness than you think.
If you’d like to learn more about the thirty-one types of happiness read our new Secret Society of Happy People’s Thirty-One Types of Happiness Guide. It’s available in the SOHP Store, with quantity discounts because it’s a great under $5 gift that even includes a gift inscription page. It’s also available at Amazon, Kindle, iBooks and other e-readers are coming soon.
The one thing I know for sure about living a mostly happy life: The more you notice the happiness around you, the happier you’ll be.
Written by Pamela Gail
Pamela Gail Johnson founded the Society of Happy People in 1998.
The Society is grounded on Pamela’s four key Practical Happiness Principles:
Pamela identified 31 Types of Happiness that are on the SOHP App Happiness Counter to make it easier to recognize moments of happiness.
Pamela also plans and organizes the Society of Happy People's annual happiness celebrations:
She's also a speaker, trainer, and author.
A few of her personal smile starters include her monthly book club, yoga, traveling and meeting new happy people.