Entry 3 : the three good things....how i felt?

Before I fall asleep, I found it hard to think of three good things that made me happy. I was always exhausted and worn out at the end of the day (school work, special lessons, homework etc). However, yesterday I could think of something that made me happy which was my score on my Chemistry test. Also, I had a very good lunch which also made me happy. HOwever, I think this method could be very effective on the long run (if I keep it up) since it might make me more positive about my day.

Entry 2 : Reactions to my 5 Strengths~!

I was very surprised to learn that my five greatest strengths are the following in order: "bravery and valor", "forgiveness and mercy", "honesty, authenticity, and genuineness", "judgement, critical thinking, and open-mindedness", and "leadership".

Your Top Strength
Bravery and valor

You are a courageous person who does not shrink from threat, challenge, difficulty, or pain. You speak up for what is right even if there is opposition. You act on your convictions.

Your Second Strength
Forgiveness and mercy

You forgive those who have done you wrong. You always give people a second chance. Your guiding principle is mercy and not revenge.

Your Third Strength
Honesty, authenticity, and genuineness

You are an honest person, not only by speaking the truth but by living your life in a genuine and authentic way. You are down to earth and without pretense; you are a "real" person.

Your Fourth Strength
Judgment, critical thinking, and open-mindedness

Thinking things through and examining them from all sides are important aspects of who you are. You do not jump to conclusions, and you rely only on solid evidence to make your decisions. You are able to change your mind.

Your Fifth Strength
Leadership

You excel at the tasks of leadership: encouraging a group to get things done and preserving harmony within the group by making everyone feel included. You do a good job organizing activities and seeing that they happen.

The one that shocked me the most is bravery. I did not expect myself to be a brave person, even though I know that I cope well in stressful situations. However, I was really pleased to learn that I am brave ^0^. I was also happy to have forgiveness and mercy as my second strength since forgiveness is a very difficult trait for a person to achieve, and it shows that I have the capability to forget and forgive (which is the highest possible way of "giving" according to Buddhist teachings). The third strength also surprised me, since I do not think of myself as a very honest person. I sometimes do "white lies" once in a while, however, I still feel that I take responsibility for what I do (if I do something wrong, I say I made a mistake). I am not so surprised at the 4th strength since I know that I like to analyze the behavior and feelings of others and I like to draw conclusions only when I looked at the situation from all the possible perspectives (like Sherlock Holmes). I was glad to have 'leadership' as my 5th strength, since I think it is a good quality for a person to have. It will help me cope with other people and will also make me a person who people like to deal with.

Overall, am really pleased with my five strengths (especially bravery ^^...it sounds really Walt Disney-ish)

Entry 1 : Our experiment

The purpose of this blog is to record our happiness. Recently, we read an article online called "Don't worry, be happier", which focused on several ways in which we can acquire "authentic happiness" or true happiness. Some of the methods mentioned were "naming-three-good-things", "random-acts-of-kindness", and "signature strengths". After reading the article, we did two online tests. The first one was called "Authentic Happiness Inventory" which tested the level of our happiness. The second one was called "VIA Signature Strengths" which is composed of 240 questions that will tell us what our 24 strengths are. These two tests will be discussed in detail in entry # 2.