Measuring Happiness

I remembered something once said during a French class by one of the older students (it was an evening class). We were asked ‘Can you tell us about something that has made you really happy in your life’. William – I remember his name due to the extraordinary thing he said – answered: ‘I moved the cooker 6 inches’. The teacher checked that he had used the right vocabulary and tried not to laugh, unlike the rest of us who found it very funny as it sounded a little crazy. He meant it.

Over the years I have thought about this in terms of the measurement of happiness. For some it takes very little to make them happy, but for others it is an insatiable need. They find momentary happiness when they buy new clothes, jewellery, move to a bigger house, upgrade their cars etc. But it can never be enough, the happiness of buying the next thing lasts for a small amount of time before they crave more. Having too much money and time can be very destructive.

This insatiable need to feel happy through consumerism leads to behaviour that can affect the wellbeing of not only their families and friends but also our environment. Little regard has been paid to the effect this is having on our planet.

We have been given so much by God to be delighted by. Spring blossoms, birdsong, trees, the beautiful animals that populate our world, the mountains, the coasts, you could go on forever about how lovely our world is and how we can feel happy by just stopping to truly appreciate it. Nature is so important to us and does have healing properties.

I don’t know how we can curb this consumerist religion; how we can stop people destroying our planet through greed. There are no easy answers. It is so good to see that we are becoming more and more aware of the need to protect what we have.

William’s life may have been very narrow and sheltered perhaps, but I envy him now that something so mundane could make him so happy. We all need to reduce our idea of what can make us happy and appreciate everyday things, taking joy in the world around us.

God bless,