I heard something yesterday that triggered me into a stream of thinking about happiness which I’ll share here. It seems that MIND are seeing an increase in people seeking help for depression, due to increased money worries. Professor Appleton, described as the country’s Tzar, on mental well being, called on the government to pay attention to the nation’s resilience and acknowledge that people vulnerable to depression and anxiety may be at risk in these difficult economic times.I was reminded of a conversation that I had with a friend in the summertime where I described myself as feeling depressed. He came back to me the next day having looking up depression in a Buddhist book which described it as ‘a loss of heart’.
I then reflected on that and what it meant to me, it was immensely helpful. I started to take steps to put the ‘heart’ back into my life. I saw that I had become too preoccupied with practical things, hanging on to the status quo for dear life, lost in thoughts and forgetting to take time to let go and breathe and focus on what really holds meaning for me in my life.
I remember a training that I took years ago in which a teacher recommended cultivating ‘sympathetic joy’ which I understand to be, taking joy in others people’s feelings of happiness, good fortune or achievement. I have a longstanding friend, who seems to naturally exude this when people come to her with good news or good feelings. Watching her doing this naturally has allowed me to at least try to open to this quality rather than envy or cynicism, so that another’s happiness can nourish and add to my own.
I love to read and one of my favorite books on happiness at the moment is written by Matthieu Ricard called ‘Happiness - a guide to developing life’s most important skill'. it’s the sort of book that you can open at any page and become easily absorbed. I then went onto the web to see what other ideas about happiness there are, needless to say there are a great many.
On the BBC wesite there is a recent article called Crunch Time For Happy Talk, it seems that Jo Swinson a Lib Dem front bencher, has had the nations happiness in mind for some time and that ‘Nearly 50 MPs from all parties, including Lib Dem Treasury spokesman Vince Cable, have signed Ms Swinson's early day motion calling on the Government to do something about the "static" levels of happiness’ and "adopt a more sophisticated method of measuring well-being than straightforward GDP".
WikIpedia suggests that ‘Gross National Happiness (GNH) is an attempt to define quality of life in more holistic and psychological terms than Gross National Product. The term was coined by Bhutan's King Jigme Singye Wangchuck in 1972 in response to criticism that his economy was growing poorly.’and that the underlying principles are ‘the promotion of equitable and sustainable socio-economic development, preservation and promotion of cultural values, conservation of the natural environment, and establishment of good governance.’ which sounds very current and familiar.
Googling definitions of happiness or the phrase ”how do I know when I am happy?” brings up a great many websites. One website specialising in quotes and definitions gave me food for thought. I particularly resonated with Dr Barbara Fredickson who believes that happiness includes activities that are absorbing and engaging. She goes on to say:
“You tap into it whenever you feel energized and excited by new ideas. You tap into it whenever you feel at one with your surroundings, at peace. You tap into it whenever you feel playful, creative, or silly. You tap into it whenever you feel your soul stirred by the sheer beauty of existence. You tap into it whenever you feel connected to others and loved. In short, you tap into it whenever positive emotions resonate within you.”
But my favorite quote for today because it describes my morning writing this is :
To the woman who complained that riches hadn't made her happy, the Master said "You speak as if luxury and comfort were ingredients of happiness; whereas all you need to be really happy, my dear, is something to be enthusiastic about. Anthony de Mello
So as a Buddhist mantra goes… ‘May you be happy”
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