Kyla Miller: A Writing Portfolio

 

 

 

 

 

So what is this, anyways?

 

Over the last 6 months, this has become one of the most popular ways to increase your happiness. The idea is simple: sign up, rate your current level of happiness, take a picture every day for 100 days of something that makes you happy, and then rate your happiness at the end of the 100 days. Although it’s rather simple, this trend has caught on like wildfire, and social media platforms have been exploding with #100happydays photos that members are taking on a daily basis. On Instagram alone, the hashtag #100happydays brings up 6,093,912 photos! So what’s the psychology behind it? Where’s the PROOF!

 

The main point of this exercise is to force people to stop and “smell the roses”. Today, people are always running from point A to point B, and the busier you are, the better. Right? WRONG! If you never stop and realize the things that make you happy on a day to day basis, you’ll forget how to be grateful and happy for the life that you have. Whether there are 100 things a day that make you happy, or just a few, you’ll be able to stop and think about just how lucky you are to lead the life you do. By taking a picture, you ensure that you’ll be able to keep this moment with you for as long as you want.

 

So….does it really work?

 

According to their website, 71% of people who start the challenge don’t finish it. Why? The most common response was, “I just didn’t have the time”. Interesting that people are saying they don’t have time to be happy! If there’s anything you should make time for, it’s this, right?! This finding is similar to the study conducted where they found that people just didn’t understand what truly makes them happy (Easterlin, 2003). People would rather run to their job or other commitment than stop and complete this exercise because they think those are the things that really matter (Easterlin, 2003), but truthfully, there couldn’t be anything more important than improving your happiness!

 

According to their website, people who successfully completed the challenge claimed to:

1) Notice what makes them happy everyday

2) Be in a better mood everyday

3) Start receiving more compliments from other people

4) Realize how lucky there were to have the life they have

5) Become more optimistic

6) Fall in love during the challenge

 

 

What’s more, if you complete the challenge, they will send you a little book that contains your 100 happy photos so you can be reminded of what makes you happy whenever you need it.

 

This challenge really had my curiosity going, so I decided to find somebody that I knew who was working on the challenge to see if they thought that it was truly working for them. I found a high school friend, who asked to remain anonymous, what it was like to complete this challenge. She said that it was easier at first, because she was really excited about it and thought the process was going to be really unique and fun. As it went on, she shared that it was still fun, but it became harder to find things that she had not already taken pictures of. As a student, she said a lot of her time is spent studying and doing similar things on a day to day basis. She said what she did enjoy; however, was finding the little things that she could take pictures of. For example, her morning coffee, or the sunset. Things that she wouldn’t normally think twice about. Overall, she said the experience has been great so far and she’s excited to see how her book will turn out!

 

Trackyourhappiness.org