Brits measure happiness
Turn that frown upside down Great Britain!
“Is this a serious question, are you happy? And can you do something about it? Well this is the launch of Action for Happiness, a new charity, and this is well, effectively, a festival of happiness.” (BBC)
The charity encourages Brits to engage in a pay it forward lifestyle and its founders say the proof is in the numbers--something Great Britain’s government is picking up on.
“...[The organization] comes at a time when happiness will for the first time in Britain be quantified. The Office for National Statistics is devising questions in order to measure the public's subjective quality of life, with the responses published alongside figures for gross domestic product (GDP).”
The Scotsman
That’s right, GWB or the General Well Being of the public will be measured right alongside the GDP based on national surveys. But what’s got Brits so down? The Guardian weighs in...
“...if we want a happier society, we've got to approach our own lives in a way that prioritises the things that really matter … the shocking fact is that, despite massive material progress, people in Britain are no happier than they were over five decades ago. ... our society has become increasingly competitive and selfish, with a culture that encourages us to pursue wealth, appearance, status and possessions above all else.”
But Financial Times says people everywhere, not just the Brits, are in a slump.
“Economic growth has not produced the happier society many expected. We have neglected our human relationships and are paying the penalty in more broken families, lower job satisfaction, reduced trust and many other social ills.”
The organization's website had more than 6,000 pledges from 68 countries on Tuesday, and made a video explaining their goal...
“..not to make everyone smile all day everyday but to reduce an enormous amount of pain and suffering … All the evidence shows is that experimental evidence and comparison shows that when you care more about other people you actually feel better about yourself. If you want to feel good, do good.”
Comments
A. Merino
The less you need, THE HAPPIER you are. However, it is tremendously difficult to avoid going with the flow and feeling the need to acquire ever more things.
It's true that the self-made usually live in fear of losing everything.
I think they feel a sense of achievement which they often misinterpret as happiness.
When you don´t have anything and you start to work, IT is easy to feel HAPPY when you make money. You can dream about having a house, travel AND SO ON. But when you are in the middle of a crisis you can also experience an OVERWHELMING fear about the possibility of losing everything.