What sets your joy free, What makes you happier than me?

A short look at what happiness means to people in Wales and whether comparison impacts our own contentment.

Surely, we are all seeking happiness of some description. But happiness is a personal thing – what makes you happy may be different to what works for others, so, maybe to really seek after happiness you need to know what happiness means to you. Maybe we need ask ourselves a few questions to help out; What does Happiness mean to me? And, what might stop me from being happy?

I wondered whether comparison may be a common hindrance to our happiness. We’re pretty good at comparing ourselves to others in this country – social media makes it all too easy, so could our culture of comparison be having a direct impact on our contentment.

Because Happiness is so individual, it would be madness just to consider one person’s perspective, so I set out to ask members of the public, what happiness meant to them, and what made them happier than me? In order to see if comparison was easy face to face, or does it only exist behind screens, or indeed if people would see past the comparison element and simply highlight what they did to be happy that others may not.

I wondered how often we thought about what made us happy and if we actively did those things, but also if we could use comparison in a better way and be inspired by what others do to make them happy and implement those things in our own lives.

Above all, I also hoped the video would open up thinking about what may improve our own happiness and wellbeing.

It’s amazing how many people were willing to answer some of my questions, but as soon as a camera came out to record their answer’s they would decide against it. Maybe already showing our deep concerns about being judged or compared to (thankfully, still plenty of people still agreed to being recorded).

The answers made it clear that most people did agree to comparing their lives and consequently their happiness to others, while those that didn’t, made it clear to me that comparison was not only generational but also cultural.

For many however the hardest question was ‘what does happiness mean to them’ or indeed ‘what did they do to be happy’. Too often our own happiness may become side-lined or secondary in our busy lives.

Through almost all my interviews and conversations with others, it became obvious to me that we should all take some time to answer these questions for ourselves. To give us something to aim at, a plan to come back to, or at least a reminder of what things make us happy and impact our wellbeing in a positive way. And to try to remember that blind comparison can be the “thief of joy” and does nothing to help our own happiness, being inspired by others is different. Taking the gold that works for others and seeing if it can help us; after all happiness is individual.

So, now it’s your turn – what does happiness mean to you? What makes you happier than me? What do you actually do to care for your own contentment, and is it time to be more intentional about doing so?

I hope you enjoy the video and that it inspires to you seek after your own happiness, contentment and wellbeing.