PERMA
Magis Musing #1: Imagine what your life would be like if you were flourishing in all elements of PERMA.
If I were flourishing in all elements of PERMA, I believe I would experience lasting well-being and true happiness. Evaluating my current happiness, I would say that overall I maintain a positive outlook on life and remain optimistic even in the face of hardship. I try to surround myself with people that make me happy and do things that I enjoy. Yet one of my weaknesses in the positive emotion element is addressing the negative emotion. Happiness entails more than just smiling or being cheerful; an important part of positive emotion is also coping with negativity. Negative emotions are inevitable but it is my choice to decide how much control they have in my life. One way I can work on increasing my positive emotion is implementing an exercise mentioned in Flourishing where I take a few minutes at the end of each day to write down three things that went well that day and why they went well.
In terms of engagement, I definitely could work on devoting more time for personal interests especially when I do not have classes. When I am analysing graphs looking at atmospheric carbon dioxide, for example, I don’t exactly lose track of time, engrossed in the material. On the other hand, when I am listening to music, going on a walk, or hanging out with my friends, I slip into the state of flow. Opportunities for these kinds of moments, however, seem rare. I noticed Georgetown sometimes promotes an environment of constant stress where students feel pressured to be working all the time. Even after being here for only one semester, I have already heard the question “How many clubs are you in?” numerous times; I always hesitate when people ask me this because there seems to be an expectation that if you are not involved in at least five clubs, you are slacking off. Very rarely have students asked each other, “What do you do in your free time?” By maintaining a balance between classes and personal interests, I could achieve better concentration and enhance my well-being.
Through these changes, I believe I could also find more meaning in my life. While I feel that overall what I do in my life is valuable and worthwhile, I have yet to serve a cause bigger than myself. Coming to Georgetown, I have witnessed how religion and efforts to combat climate change are ways people find meaning in their lives. I want to continue exploring my interests and passions and make meaningful impacts on my surroundings.
I feel confident about the positive relationships element because my family and friends are people in my life who I believe care about me. I can always talk to my parents about anything in my life, successes and setbacks; with my friends, I have already met people at Georgetown who I feel comfortable calling at 3 am to chat. Finding positive relationships has also brought meaning to my life because knowing that there are people in my life who care about me, I want to do the same for them in return. Regarding the accomplishment element, I believe I have achieved some accomplishments such as working diligently in high school and getting accepted to Georgetown. I can continue to work on incorporating accomplishment in my life by creating more fulfilling goals for myself. Ultimately, through following PERMA I would lead a more meaningful life.
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