WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?
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Is having the perfect job, family and being in love the key to a happy life?
Researchers, philosophers, spiritualists and others have spent years seeking the answer. In recent times, even the UN has measured people’s happiness.
And tomorrow we will find out how happy we are compared to the rest of the world. The latest World Happiness Report will be released to coincide with International Day of Happiness. Published by the UN’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network, it ranks 156 countries by their happiness levels.
Last year New Zealand ranked at No 8 — one above the Aussies but not as merry as the Scandinavians. Denmark came out on top, the US was 13th and the poor old UK didn’t even make the top 20.
Burundi was the most ost miserable on the planet, followed by war-ravaged ed Syria, Togo, Afghan- nistan and six other r countries in sub- - Saharan Africa.
But what is happi- iness? To some it is a human right. Alongside side the rights to life and liberty, iberty, crafters of the US Declaration of Independence added the pursuit of happiness.
And the town of Madison, New Jersey, will tomorrow set a precedent as the first US town to celebrate the United Nations’ global holiday. The town will be painted yellowy for the day, through art exhibits,exhibits fundraisers and peoplepeop dressing in yellow. And in the UK, last weekw it was revealed 8-year-olds8 are to be giveng happiness lessonss and teenagers instructedin on combatingin anxiety and suicidal thoughts,thou in Government projectsproject due to be trialled. The Department of Education is inviting bidders for multimillion-pound contracts to offer mental health training in more than 200 British schools. Typical mindfulness lessons will reportedly encourage children to think of disturbing thoughts as “buses” that will move away, and they will be given questionnaires on bullying and friends.
Happiness means different things to different people. Many view personal happiness as simply a state of well-being or a pleasurable or satisfying experience defined by positive or pleasant emotions.
But philosophers and religious thinkers often define it in terms of living a good life, or flourishing, not just as an emotion. And, they say, it is something money can’t buy.
Professor Marc Wilson, at Wellington’s Victoria University,sity, argues about 50 per cent of f happiness is genetic.
“Research shows if your parents are miserable, you are likely to be miserable too,” he says.
“Similarly, if your parents are chirpy, you are likely to inherit this attitude.
“At the same time, about 10 per cent of happiness is down to what is going on in your life and the other 40 per cent is related to how optimistic or pessimistic a person you are — how you choose to react to what is happening daily.
“In general, most people seem to have a baseline for happiness. It doesn’t matter if you are dealing with a death in the family or have won the Lotto, eventually we returnretu to that baseline of
contentment.”co