hmm this is the question I got from a lady at work today. I did not notice that the lady was staring at me as I was going about my buisness and finally she popped the question and as swift as I am I though I understood the deeper meaning of her question and I answered do you really want to know?. I swore that her face expression showed eagerness to find out something spectacular or extraordinary remedy but all I replied was: being happy. She looked at me with a smile and walked away. I was not trying to be sarcastic but at the same time as I did not see that question coming I delt with it naturally as if my heart suddenly developed lips and started pouring out what it wanted.
Funnly enough that evening at home I switched on the tele just to find a documentary quess what about....yea you gest it "happiness". To my supprised I learnt quiet substantial amount of information which got me really suprised and as usual I would like to share it so here I drop it:
fact 1: Britain is less happy than in the 1950s - despite the fact that we are three times richer
fact 2: The proportion of people saying they are "very happy" has fallen from 52% in 1957 to just 36% today.
fact 3: One recent table has Switzerland as the happiest country, followed by Denmark, Sweden, Ireland and the USA. Britain comes eighth.
fact 4: A remarkable 81% wanted happiness as the goal. Only 13% wanted greatest wealth.
fact 5: So what makes us happy? Almost half of people - 48% - say that relationships are the biggest factor in making them happy. Second is health on 24%.
Ok let me stop the facts before this becomes another research article. As a nation the world has changed substantially the last 50 years. These changes includes econimical boost and with that comes much ease that prehaps is taken for granted, as well as socially we have more security than before and I am specifically thinking about national insurance which is there to support individualls. Even politically things has changed substantially as well laws and order are observed much more carefully but I am not sure if accurate. SO to summ up we have more wealth, if we get sick we have a wellfare that will take care of us, if we loose our job again wellfare to fallback on, and franckly speaking starvation is impossible here in the west what more, so why are we not happy then?
One thing that I am sure of is that happiness is inner experience whom everyone defines in their different ways but at the same time we can tell it when it ingulfs us but you hardly hear someone saying "I am so happy". This concerns me , it concerns me to think that we are develpoing or already have developed symptoms of mass depression, depression of emotion, depression of knowing what makes us happy and ultimately aimimg for it.
One thing that I want to conclude with is that most people's definition of happiness involved family and friends, but the results threw up a surprise. The second largest group of responses centred around contentment and inner peace. If only we can be take a minute to understand what we have got as to what we want, if only we can understand how to surround ourself with the people we like, if only we can understand the bigger picture of things and not get boiled down to minute details, then and only then contentment and peace will settle within us.
peace
