Reading my scriptures, saying my prayers, attending the
temple, going to my church meetings, and being a good visiting teacher and
neighbor are top on my list of religious commitments to keep. If I’m not doing
those things, then I’m beating myself up. But if I am doing those things, I
feel like I’m being a productive citizen in the Lord’s kingdom.
I also have a forever long and never ending to-do list that
includes items from unloading the dishwasher to making a quilt to replacing the
batteries in my smoke detectors to transcribing recorded interviews with my
mom. (Just by my examples you can see how it never ends since I put recurring
tasks on it.) I have this innate need to accomplish something every day. If I
don’t, I feel extremely lazy and unproductive. I rarely watch a movie without
also crocheting or balancing my budget at the same time.
When it comes to eating right and exercising . . . there’s
just something about those endorphins that help to improve my overall mood. Again,
when I exercise, I feel like I’m being productive and proactive in maintaining
my health. I feel just the opposite when I don’t exercise. When it comes to
healthy eating, I’ve joked with my coworkers for years that if I have to buy
lunch it’s because I’ve been lazy about making healthy dinners since whenever I
make dinner I always make enough to have leftovers to bring to work.
And lastly, I find personal fulfillment when I find ways to
progress substantially. Since I am single and without kids at 32, I feel like
I’ve been stunted in my growth. It seems like getting married and raising kids
forces many opportunities for progression upon a person. So without that, I’ve
struggled to feel like I’m improving myself. For many years, I took up new
hobbies. But in the last couple years, I’ve craved progression of more lasting
value, so I bought a condo and came back to school. Now graduation is staring
me down and I’m wondering what my next big progression move is going to be –
possibly a move out-of-state? I don’t know. But that is an itch that I have to
relieve in order to keep my personal fulfillment side of my happiness at a
healthy level.
Social fulfillment plays a smaller role in my overall
happiness, but it is still important. My social fulfillment needs time spent
with friends and time alone to rekindle the fire. Several years ago, I took the
Meyers-Briggs test and found that I don’t have a strong preference for being an
extrovert or an introvert – I can go either way. So I find that I need time to
spend with my friends or else I’ll go stir-crazy. But I also need my alone time
to rekindle the fire or else I’ll go the other kind of crazy.
Lastly, professional fulfillment comes to me when I feel
like I learn new things, have good working relationships with my co-workers,
and make some progressive moves within appropriate amounts of time. When I was
asked to move to my current position three years ago, I really struggled to
find my fit in this position, as the university’s Online Training Consultant. I
had a steep learning curve for about a year and continually thought I’d request
to move back to my old role if and when the hiring freeze lifted. But when it
finally lifted, I chose to stay in my current position because I had settled in
and felt more comfortable. And now, I really feel settled into it since I’m not
just keeping the function afloat – I’m making some substantial contributions
such as implementing a new learning management system (not Learning Suite J, my LMS is for
employee training) and developing an employee certification program.
I scored a 5.2 on the questionnaire. I wasn’t really surprised because I am quite happy with my life, and many people tell me I’m a happy and optimistic person. I know I’m not perfectly happy since there are still many things I’d like to do in this life – chiefly get married to a man I consider my best friend and match, and have a family with him. While I am aware that marriage and family alone are not guarantees for happiness, that grass certainly looks greener since it is the plan Heavenly Father intended for us. He wouldn’t have planned that for us if it wasn’t the best way to do life, right?
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