I found the following Top 10 lists in the January 2009 issue of Real Simple magazine. The responses are based on a survey of 2,600 men and women.
It’s fun to think about what makes you happy, compared to what you think would make your partner happy. I found some of the “men” ones interesting…
First, the women. My $.02 appear in parentheses…
10 Things That Would Make WOMEN Happier:
#1 A permanently clean home. (I strive for this daily; I’m doing much better than I used to.)
#2 A luxury trip. (I’m grateful that we now take one each year!)
#3 A big house. (I recently got one, and I have to admit, it ranks pretty high.)
#4 Losing 10 pounds. (Or 5… and for longer than just a weekend.)
#5 A great body. (Ehhh… I’ve stopped comparing myself to others these days.)
#6 Time for themselves. (I agree… very important! I’ve always done pretty good with this one.)
#7 A really romantic relationship. (Again, I’m grateful.)
#8 Being smarter. (Naaa… at this point, I am what I am.)
#9 Saying “No” more. (Not an issue for me… no kids, so I’ve always been in control of my own time & activities.)
#10 A luxury car. (I’ll pass. I’m pretty happy with my fun Jeep Wrangler.)
From this list, I think I’d have to rate #4 “losing 10 pounds” as the #1 thing that would make me happier. Which is a big bummer since the only reason I’m not 10 pounds lighter is my own fault, darn it.
And now for the men…
10 Things That Would Make MEN Happier:
#1 A big house. (Really? Does this surprise anyone else but me?)
#2 A really romantic relationship. (Who knew this would be so high?)
#3 A luxury trip. (I guess we’re in the same boat on this one.)
#4 Being smarter. (Over-achievers… competitors.)
#5 A luxury car. (I thought this one would be higher.)
#6 A better sex life. (I thought this one would be higher.)
#7 A great body.
#8 A permanently clean home. (I bet this would be higher if they did more of the house cleaning!)
#9 Losing 10 pounds. (Yeah, that’s because guys can lose weight practically overnight!)
#10 Having a personal assistant. (Now that you mention it, I could use one of those too!)
Interesting… right? Guys don’t need time for themselves like women do. Instead, quite to the contrary, they seek to include others in their life — by way of adding a personal assistant (and house cleaners!).
Professionally, I pursued my Masters Degree in Family Therapy at Texas Tech — where I obtained invaluable expertise and experience helping people with a wide variety of physical and emotional health issues. Personally, I think it's useful when people realize that they're not the only one going through a difficult time. So any time that I think my personal health experiences would be helpful to someone else going through the same thing, I will share my story here. With health issues that I've personally experienced (like Endometriosis, Lyme Disease, Hysterectomy, Skin Cancer, Ganglion Cysts, Autism, and other topics that very few people enjoy talking about) and health products that I've found beneficial (like sleep aids, essential oils, and medications)… I do my best to provide my own raw and honest firsthand experiences that I think others would appreciate hearing about and (hopefully) find helpful. I'm grateful that I have a number of friends who have also been willing to share their very personal stories here — regarding their own physical and emotional health. When I'm not writing about health topics, you will find me sharing Good News & Fun Times as publisher of The Fun Times Guide (32 fun & helpful websites).
