Path to true happiness 'revealed'
news.bbc.co.uk
news.bbc.co.uk
I've moved a LOT. I was in the military. And once I got out, I has a string of businesses I started all over the US. And I use to carry these boxes of "STUFF" with me. My wife too. We had all this crap, that was soooooo important to us. But half the time we never even bothered to unpack it. Finally, we both came to our senses, and sold, gave, or threw most of it away.
I hear people talk about "Golden Handcuffs" I know what you mean. I had them. But you know what, I was able to shake them too. So maybe they're not handcuffs. Just decorations. That we like so much we won't take them off. But we can.
My family is great now. We live on so much less. And our quality of life is through the roof! If my family was a startup, we would have so much runway our competitors would be shaking in their boots. And just like a startup, that gives you a lot of freedom to experiment.
I love to experiment.
Simplicity is the key to happiness. At least that's my opinion. Sorry for the rant in the comments. Didn't mean for it to go on so long.
* Plant something and nurture it
* Count your blessings - at least five - at the end of each day
* Take time to talk - have an hour-long conversation with a loved one each week
* Phone a friend whom you have not spoken to for a while and arrange to meet up
* Give yourself a treat every day and take the time to really enjoy it
* Have a good laugh at least once a day
* Get physical - exercise for half an hour three times a week
* Smile at and/or say hello to a stranger at least once each day
* Cut your TV viewing by half
* Spread some kindness - do a good turn for someone every day
* move away from situations when you don't, on a regular basis, feel like smiling whilst, for example, walking down the road. The world is huge and your spending power relative to many places is vast. Don't be afraid of leaving the rut. * from time to time strip everything away and rebuild. Some of the best forests need wildfires to sprout the seeds cast by trees. Throw junk out. End an overly demanding career. Rebuild things that have been static for a while. * scale your expectations down. Get used to bland, unexotic foods, then reintroduce, gradually, the more exotic treats we have become used to - asian foods, spices, heavy seasoning, etc. Each rediscovery will be amazing * Controlling for everything else, having a bigger house is not normally worth the longer commute, happiness wise. Stay close to work, or find work close to your big house * Live with a large number of people or get to know neighbours * Don't bother with traditional donation-driven charity (pay and forget), which will not make you happy, but do add a social enterprise angle to your work. Take an occasional pay cut to give discounts to needy customers, or even do pro bono work
If you want to break those into new lines, you need to insert a blank line. More info here: http://news.ycombinator.com/formatdoc
Must emphasize this - I find that a lot of times when I'm feeling very blah a surefire fix is to strike up a conversation with a stranger, or at the very least exchange pleasantries.
It's depressing how socially disconnected modern life has made us - we live in the densest conglomeration of humans history has ever known, yet we've never been more alone. You will shuffle past thousands of fellow human beings during your daily commute without ever having learned the slightest thing about any one of them. You will all sit silently, absorbed in tedium and boredom while a vast treasure trove of experiences and stories goes unheard you - including your own.
I'm not especially social I have to admit - but I think humans are hardwired to desire contact. I cannot overstate the importance of this - it's simply too bad that society has made conversing with strangers a faux pas... even though in my experience most people crave it more than they'd care to admit.
Basically, if you want to start a conversation with a stranger then I'd recommend doing it in a place where they can 'escape' from you. If you corner them, say on the tube, then they have no means of leaving and hence they will feel as if your approach is hostile. And that's especially true if you are both sitting or face to face.
I recommend reading Strauss' book because it's fascinating, but the bottom line is approach people from an angle (not head on and not from behind). Make sure they've got the physical space to leave if they want to, maintain enough distance that you are not in their personal space, and if you do get chatting it can be helpful to indicate in some way that you are only temporarily there talking to them.
2. I totally agree that there's no standard definition to happiness, but is unhappiness not sort of universal -- i mean pretty standard. Call it unhappiness, dis-ease, or malaise, not feeling good, feeling out of sorts/low -- that kind of thing.
Some of these points certainly do help in making someone feel a lot less of these things. I find spreading good cheer - smiling and befriending new people really makes me feel much "happier", and these do not have to be strong/lasting relationships.
Showing affection to _animals_ really helps too. I have lots of stray dogs in my area, and i try to befriend them, some really respond lovingly, almost humanly.
Doing what i enjoy doing, hobbies is another suggestion.
Finally, I'd like to suggest some _meditation_. Keeping quiet, being internally silent for a while -- could be while sitting, lying, or walking in the park. Distancing myself from the constant din of thoughts and emotions and playback of the past. Cheers!
Also, how did it pan out, did they achieve greater happiness for that village? I liked their "seeding" approach.
Slough's population is ~120k, so I'd be surprised if any "seeding" effect produced measurable results on the population as a whole.
I don't see any sign that the BBC has either put the episodes online or offered them for sale.
http://www.amazon.com/Geography-Bliss-Grumps-Search-Happiest...