Living in modern society bombards us with information of how and when we should become satisfied with our life.
It’s complicated however, because exactly when should we be become satisfied with our life? Do we need to wait until the day we lie in bed in hospital, waiting for the last cousin to say goodbye, then suddenly have a flashback of our life and feel satisfied of the way we have lived?
You may feel satisfied because you have grown old gracefully. But there might be some kids out there shouting vigorously to their mom and dad that they are having the best day of their life.
What about those advertisements on the media portraying a good quality of life with materialistic value? Do we really need to achieve it all so that we could have a life satisfaction?
Life Satisfaction Definition and Theory
Life satisfaction is often linked with the quality of life. However, its meaning in context is much different.
Based on the research ‘The Study of Life Satisfaction’, quality of life is associated with living conditions, such as food, health, shelter, and so on (Veenhoven, 1996). By contrast, life satisfaction is defined as a state of emotion, like happiness or sadness.
We can also understand the theory of life satisfaction by using the PERMA model, introduced by Martin Seligman, the founder of positive psychology (Seligman, 2011).
In general, whatever level of satisfaction you are feeling, you can define and maximize your level of wellbeing if you choose which elements you want to engage in to flourish. Also, life satisfaction tends to be dependent on your emotional state.
There is no fixed standard on how everyone can have a fully satisfied life because it varies on the person’s needs, moods, and perception.
According to Daniel Gilbert, professor of Psychology at Harvard University, the meaning of happiness is “anything we pleased” ( Gilbert, 2009). Our mood is always changing.
There might be some days where you feel “so-so” and the thought of engaging with others sound dreadful and you would much happier being home alone and other days where you want to dance the flamenco with everyone you meet.
Life Satisfaction Research
Since science is something observable and measurable, life satisfaction is also included as a scientific observation, as we have a measurement of our well-being on both subjective and objective level.
As mentioned above, we will never be able to maintain a standard of life satisfaction because our emotional state plays such a large role in our perspective.
But what is a good life? Is my good same as yours?
According to the research conducting on validity of life satisfaction scales, one of the main measurements is based on preferences and values of people (Diener, Inglehart & Tay, 2013). As such, though we share the same world we can barely share almost the same value since we experience things and view the aspects of life differently.
Life satisfaction could also be measured based on how we define a meaningful life, pleasure, and engagement (Peterson, Park & Seligman, 2005). But again, to what extent do these factors means to you?
To measure your own life satisfaction, you can take Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) here. It is a short 5-item instrument designed to measure global cognitive judgments with life. It takes just 1 minute to complete.
It Is A Matter Of Now
Some people judge their life satisfaction based on check lists they make that they think, when completed, will lead a to satisfied life. For example, they might thinking, “Wait until I’ve got this thing or accomplished this one, then I will become satisfied”.
Unfortunately, what you will feel in the future will not be different as what you are feeling right now. Much research has shown that your brain judge your feeling based on the present moment (Gilbert, 2009).
As such, you have no idea what you will encounter in the future, what condition you are in, or what problem you are having. Eventually, the money that you work so hard to have in the future means that you sometimes leave all your family behind, forget to take care of your health. Once you get what you want, you would have lost a lot mor along the, and that checklist doesn’t look as promising anymore.
So why wait?
Setting a high standard or filling in ‘check list for a meaningful life’ can be meaningful and serve a great purpose. Working for the bright future is absolutely fine. These prevent from turning into a couch potato or sinking into boredom.
Though it is optimal that you would rather care about life satisfaction towards the end of your life and embrace only the present, it’s not always possible to wait to be satisfied. Embrace the things you have and you will become satisfied right away.
Living is grateful. We deserve to have a good life and to feel satisfied no matter what condition we are in. I suggest you put down your phone or call off your tasks for a moment and feel grateful towards your life, right here, right now.
The fact that you are still breathing is already good enough to feel satisfied. Don’t allow yourself to feel the burden of propaganda and advertisement. What matters is you, the one reading this.
Life satisfaction, you can have it now.
References
Diener, E., Inglehart, R., & Tay, L. (2013). Theory and validity of life satisfaction scales. Social Indicators Research, 112(3), 497-527.
Gilbert, D. (2009). Stumbling on happiness. Vintage Canada.
Peterson, C., Park, N., & Seligman, M. E. (2005). Orientations to happiness and life
satisfaction: The full life versus the empty life. Journal of happiness studies, 6(1), 25-41.
Seligman, M. (2011). The Original Theory: Authentic Happiness. Retrieved from https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/learn/wellbeing
Veenhoven, R. (1996). The study of life-satisfaction. Eötvös University Press. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1765/16311
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