My Score on the Satisfaction with Life Scale

I should never have taken Excedrin for my headache because, thanks to the caffeine in it, I can’t sleep. So here I am at 4am blogging away on a Saturday night while most of North America is soundly asleep. C’est la vie mon ami.

I was browsing Oprah’s website and came across a Satisfaction with Life Scale.

The scale (developed by Ed Diener at the University of Illinois) asks you to answer how satisfied you are with your life.

1 = Not at all true
4 = Moderately True
7 = Absolutely True

1. In most ways, my life is close to ideal.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

2. The conditions of my life are excellent.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

3. I am satisfied with my life.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

4. So far I have gotten the important things I want in life.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

5. If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

I took the test and scored a 29

Here’s the explanation: If you scored 15 or less, you’re not satisfied with your life. If you scored 31 or more, you’re very satisfied with your life.

If you scored somewhere in the middle, happiness expert Dr. Robert Holden has some advice on how to live a more satisfying life. Dr. Holden says the key to being happy is overcoming “destination addiction,” which he defines as “living in the not-now.”

“It’s always about tomorrow, so you’re chasing ‘more,’ ‘next’ and ‘there,’” he says. “You promise yourself that when you get there, you’ll be happy. And I promise you, you won’t, because you’ll always set another destination to go for.”

Instead, Dr. Holden says if you are unhappy with your life or looking to improve your score, there are two things you can do. “We have to learn to let go of our past, we have to give up all hopes for a perfect past. Let the past go, it’s gone.” After that, he says, “Take a vow of kindness. Be kinder to yourself and to others.

“It’s never too late to be happy,” he says.

I guess I need to work on my “destination addiction” because honestly, I do worry about tomorrow. I worry about how I will provide for my wife and how I’ll pay my monthly bills which includes my outrageous student loan and the other bills associated with life (e.g., rent, food, etc.).

But I’m going to make an effort to work on not chasing that ever elusive “more.”

Please take the Satisfaction with Life Scale and share your thoughts in the comments section.