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Alex Shalman, a fellow blogger, started a group writing project called “The Happiness Project“. He started off by interviewing 34 people including A-List bloggers, NY Times #1 best selling Authors as well as experts who researched happiness. He has since extended the project to allow other bloggers to answer the interview questions themselves.

If you’d like to participate, visit his site for more details. I’ve decided to participate in the group project and to answer the interview questions. Here goes:

Question 1 - How do you define happiness?

My definition of happiness is probably a lot closer to the word fulfillment than it is to the word joy. Meaning, when I am happy I am filled with a feeling of inner peace and tranquility that goes beyond just smiling or laughing or having fun. Yesterday was a sunny day and I went outside and sat in a lawn-chair with my eyes closed and I felt the sun on my face. I wasn’t laughing, I wasn’t even smiling, but I was happy. That’s the best way I can describe it.

Question 2 - On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your happiness now, versus when you were a child?

I was an active child and I always felt I had a lot of creative energy inside waiting to be let out. I didn’t know myself as well as I know myself now so I would have to say that as a child I was probably at a 6 if I took an average, and I would rate myself at about an 8 right now on average. That’s not to say that I don’t have times when I’m at a 10, or that I’m unhappy with my life, but I do feel that I’ve still got a lot of growth ahead of me and that’s why I’d rate myself at an 8.

Question 3 - What do you do on a daily basis that brings you happiness? (and how consistent is the feeling of happiness throughout your day)

I am very heavy into personal development. I love growth and I love learning about myself and the world around me. Being around those who I truly care about brings me happiness. I write in my journal on a daily basis and I love expressing myself creatively through my writing even if it’s just in a personal journal nobody reads. Helping people discover their potential, inspiring them and teaching bring me happiness on a daily basis.

The feeling of happiness typically fluctuates for me during a typical day depending on what’s happening around me. When I am alone it is normally very easy for me to experience a feeling of tranquility and happiness, but sometimes when I get around other people who aren’t happy with their lives their energy does have an effect on me which can be somewhat frustrating or draining. This is happening less and less, however, because I’ve learned to surround myself with happy people and to stay away from constantly negative people.

Question 4 - What things take away from your happiness? What can be done to lessen their impact or remove them from your life?

Well, I think I kind of answered that in the previous question. The biggest thing that takes away from my happiness is the energy of other people who are unhappy with their lives. Most of the time I am able to handle dealing with that type of energy just fine but there are days where I get bombarded by too much of it at once, or I haven’t taken time to be alone and to re-connect to my true self and then I feel drained and less happy than usual.

The biggest thing that I can do to lessen the impact of this is to help people reconnect to their source of energy instead of relying on me to “pick them up” all the time, and to take time out for myself to recharge. I normally do that, but sometimes when life gets really busy my “alone time” takes a back seat and then my happiness suffers.

Question 5 - What do you plan on doing in the future that will bring you even more happiness?

I plan on inspiring people and helping them to discover their inner wisdom, their purpose and passion in life on a much larger scale. I also plan on starting a family in the future and enjoying the process of raising kids. I plan on becoming completely financially independant and having a larger impact on the world.