Today in class we took a happiness orientation test. I scored 24 for both pleasure and meaning, and 16 for engagement. At first when I saw those results I was a little shocked but after thinking about them they do tie in with me. The reason, I think, why engagement is so low is because I am a quiet girl. Don’t confuse my quietness with shyness because they are two completely different things. I can talk to anybody in the streets but i just don’t have much to say. Due to the fact that I am quite person, I just tend not to engage in activities that require much energy. For example, activities where I have to engage with people. I wasn’t surprised that pleasure and meaning had such high scores, let alone the same score. When I do anything in my life it has to have some meaning, it has to have some sort of impact. Also, I have to enjoy what I am doing, I see no point in doing anything if I don’t feel like it has any meaning or brings me any pleasure.
The book describes pleasure as experiencing a feeling of happiness or peace. The next topic is engagement. Peterson defines engagement as participating in activities where you experience flow. The last topic is meaning, meaning is when you do something because you care about it (Peterson 2006). Some examples where I have experienced pleasure, is any time I eat my favorite food or snack. I choose to eat it because it gives me pleasure, well mostly my tummy! When I choose to do anything it has to have meaning, for example going to church. I choose to go to church because it has meaning to not only me but also my family. We all grew up religious and going to church, I believe it will allow me to be closer to God.
I am satisfied with what I scored on meaning and pleasure, however that does not mean I am going to continue doing the same things. I will try to improve myself everyday choosing activities that actually make me happy. Find activities that have more meaning and will impact my life a little more. I will continue new things that give me pleasure, whether that be try a new dish or finding a new favorite shirt. I am not satisfied with how low of a score I got for engagement. Engaging in activities has been my whole life, however I have been getting better at it. I plan on talking and meeting new people as well as getting involved in my school and city. The first step I have made to increase my engagement was joining a bootcamp. When I do certain exercises I master them and get into the zone.
Source: Peterson, C. (2006). A primer in positive psychology. New York, NY, US: Oxford University Press.
Rebecca Cardenas 