It’s a curse of modern life to think we can buy happiness
FORMULA 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton declared rather dramatically on social media this week that he ‘feels like giving up on everything’. He was down in the dumps because ‘the world is such a mess and people don’t seem to care’.
such a sentiment will strike a chord with many of us. Life is a struggle at times even before you start worrying about global poverty, climate change, Brexit, Trump, syria etc.
But if a young, healthy, talented multi-millionaire sports idol like Hamilton finds it tough, then it’s even harder for the rest of us.
It is why it’s worth reminding ourselves that, in reality, life now has never been better. We’re living longer, we can cure or manage diseases that a generation ago were killers, there’s less poverty, we have more food and are better educated than ever before.
There are plenty of reasons to be cheerful. But, of course, happiness doesn’t always follow logic. This week we learned what
really does make us happy, following the publication of a new study which looked at levels of happiness by analysing millions of documents, books and newspapers going back to 1820.
The research found that spikes in happiness were sometimes fuelled by increases in income, but in general a big rise was needed to have any noticeable impact. Instead, key increases in happiness tended to coincide with other factors, such as raised levels of hope.
somewhat counter-intuitively, happiness was surprisingly high during the war years. Yes, people were suffering incredible hardship, stress and the absence or loss of loved ones, but they also felt a tremendous sense of camaraderie and community.
a similar spike in happiness was noted in the Fifties despite the deprivation and grimness of the post-war period. The researchers have put this down to a feeling of hope and collective optimism that we’d come through the worst and now anything was possible.
By 1978, the nation’s happiness levels had plummeted. Widespread industrial action during the Winter of Discontent contributed to feelings of disappointment and frustration that the aspirations of the Fifties hadn’t been realised — and this despite the fact income levels were broadly the highest they had ever been.
That’s not to say economics don’t impact our happiness levels. During periods of economic instability we know there are higher rates of alcoholism and suicide.
But the key thing to appreciate is that generally our feelings of contentment are not rising at the same rate as our levels of affluence. Numerous studies have shown that what we require for genuine happiness is really quite minimal: enough to eat and drink, somewhere to live, a purpose to life and family and/or friends.
On an individual level, we know money and status correlate poorly with levels of happiness. It’s not ‘stuff’ that makes us happy.
For many years until she died, I used to visit an elderly nun who had once taught me. she had dedicated her life to helping others for more than 60 years.
she had no possessions, not a single thing of her own. Instead, she lived in a community of sisters and shared everything. she was one of the happiest people I have ever known.
and during my time working in palliative care, I never heard anyone on their death bed bemoan their lack of wealth or possessions. But many did wish they’d spent more time with their loved ones — that’s a valuable life lesson I’ve never forgotten.