People often ask me, “Come on, what’s the key to happiness? If you had to pick one thing, what would you say?”
I think that question can be answered in several ways, depending on what framework you use.
But one answer would certainly be self-knowledge. It’s the Fifth Splendid Truth: We can build a happy life only on the foundation of our own nature.
But it’s surprisingly hard to know yourself! So how can you sneak a glimpse into your own nature?
You can ask yourself: Whom do I envy? What do I lie about? The answers to these questions reveal the way in which your life doesn’t reflect your values.
You can ask yourself: What did I do for fun when I was ten years old? You’d probably enjoy as an adult a version of what you enjoyed as a ten year old.
You can ask yourself: What do I actually DO?
You can ask yourself: Who are my patron saints? (A “patron saint” is a saint who has a special connection to a person, place, profession, or activity, or, in more casual terms, a person who serves as a particular leader or example.)
I have many patron saints, but here are six of them:
Benjamin Franklin: practical, curious, inventive.
St. Therese of Lisieux: showing great love through small, ordinary actions. St. Therese is also my spiritual master.
Samuel Johnson: wildly eccentric, with a deep understanding of human nature. This patron saint made it into the subtitle of Happier at Home!
Julia Child: goofy, yet masterly; light-hearted, yet authoritative. For some reason, she’s been on my mind lately.
Winston Churchill: indefatigable, indomitable. I wrote a biography of Churchill, Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill, so I have a special attachment to him.
Virginia Woolf: intensely attuned to the power of the passing moment.
When I look back on the pieces I’ve written about my patron saints, I see that they’re among my favorite posts.
How about you? Who are your patron saints, and why?
Gretchen Rubin is the author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller The Happiness Project—an account of the year she spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific studies, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier—and the recently released Happier at Home. On her popular blog, The Happiness Project, she reports on her daily adventures in the pursuit of happiness. For more doses of happiness and other happenings, follow Gretchen on Facebook and Twitter.
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