I asked an acquaintance whom I hadn’t seen in a while.
He appeared outwardly optimistic but in a fatalist kind of way. Further discussion revealed that he was indeed somewhat worried about his job security with the local newspaper.
“They say it’s the worst economic downturn this generation has ever seen” he said, confirming my impression that he was preoccupied about something.
But this reaction was the exception. Often times if I meet someone and I introduce the subject of the current economic troubles they tend to clam up. It becomes obvious that they’d rather talk about something else.
Anything else. It’s making it difficult to get a good grasp on how people are coping.
Last week GM in Oshawa Ontario permanently closed its truck plant after 60 continuous years of operation. 2,500 workers
lost their jobs. Chrysler is set to axe a raft of dealerships in the US and GM will soon follow that action here in Canada.
Since the day we’re born we all want more. More nourishment, more comfort, more love.
More of everything.
But as long as there have been humans walking this earth there’s one thing we’ve all want more of than anything else: Happiness.
My focus on this site is all about the “happiness mindset” and how to develop and how to maintain it through the “new immunity”. But today I want to talk about one particular aspect of the debate about how happiness is achieved…
More money: Does it bring happiness or not?
I was working on this post when I came across a CNN piece written by Peter Bregman. In it he makes the point that having happiness and having money are not to be confused.
Indeed, Mr. Bregman points out that maybe, in this particular time in human history, we need to learn to be happy with less.
I can’t agree more.
After all, trying to add to our happiness by throwing money at the problem only ever works for the short term. Then it’s back to wanting… more.
Now let’s be clear here I’m not saying that money isn’t necessary. We all need money.
Our personal existence depends on having the basics of life met each and every day. And that does cost money. But when it comes to happiness, research by University of Illinois psychologist Edward Diener, a.k.a. “Dr. Happiness”, shows that additional income does little to raise our sense of satisfaction with life.
Today’s challenges are so complex and pervasive that our happiness has come under constant attack especially since job losses are at an all-time high with whole industries in peril. However despite that, the most recent Gallup Poll shows that consumers, at least in the US, are experiencing a slight easing of worry over finances (34 on the scale) within the last two weeks (down from 38).
But stats are always changing and there’s no guarantee we’ll see a lasting improvement at all.
There’s always hope though. I’ll talk about that in a post a few days from now (look for my next new post: “H.O.P.E. for the Future”).
For now there’s a funny quote from Kin Hubbard that sums up the happiness debate:
“It’s pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness. Poverty an’ wealth have both failed.”
“Don’t watch the news!”
I’ve heard this advice before. It was from mega-successful network marketer Mark Yarnell who authored several good books on that industry. He was saying things like ” Nothing ever happens anyway…”
Years ago I tried his advice myself and I did realize a lot more efficient use of my time. Of course I did get rid of my TV altogether so that had a lot to do with it. The reception in my area was crappy anyway and what with building a new dairy business I was always quite busy with little time to sit in front of a boob tube.
But all that was before 9/11. Today the news seems to be a lot more full of all the gritty stuff folks just love. It gives them stuff to talk about but, in reality, you’d better avoid in order to preserve your positive mindset. I understand that.
But is that the best or the only option? Is all negativity something that we should be trained to avoid at all costs?
I think not.
Not because I like negative news – I don’t – but I realize that sensational news sells and that’s why there’s plenty of it. Anything that get’s the emotions going sells. We all know that. Purchases happen because the buying response is triggered by the emotions and then is immediately backed by logic. That’s marketing 101.
I don’t really care for it myself because it sounds manipulative but… that’s how things are.
We’re human. We must live fully in the world good or bad. It’s not what we see or hear so much as what motivates us to act. If we are making choices based on how it looks we’re probably not going forward as we should.
My advice is to use the gut feel method to “see” if a decision is a good thing or not. It may not always work out to our satisfaction just then but perhaps later on we’ll see that it was for the best.
As for the news? It’s just information composed of letters and numerals which make up sounds and pictures. It’s ok to feel a well reported story emotionally but then engage your ability to detach quickly so that it remains “outside” of you.
“Don’t watch the news!”