Pursuit of Happiness

If you are feeling a tad out of sorts because life has just taken a turn for the worse, perhaps you’re feeling a bit sad --- or maybe a lot.

No worries. The Band of Happiness will come and play for you and shake you out of your doldrums whether you want to or not.

There is an easy solution for everything. It seems that we somehow have evolved into a society that is all too eager to reach for the magic potion that lulls us into a state of wellbeing while numbing, or would that be dumbing down our natural instincts and feelings so that we can be citizens in good standing in the land of perpetual happiness. It is not for nothing that we have been dubbed the Prozac Nation.

I was knoodling on this thought recently. Whether it has been socially engineered by psychiatrists (doubtful) or the growing gaggle of lifestyle coaches, there is definitely a movement afoot that if not happy, we should take corrective measures and embark on the pursuit of happiness.

Noble though the thought may be it is such a bunch of hooey. I am not talking about people who have serious mental illnesses – although I sometimes question as to just how many are truly ill, but that is altogether a different matter. What I think is a bunch of hooey is the readiness of kith and kin – add well meaning friends and armchair professionals to that list - who, having genuflected at the alter of Oprah, Dr. Phil, and the latest life guru once too often, are now willing and able to dispense advice on how to be happy. They are like serial some things … what? Serial happiers? I know, no such word. Maybe I can coin it. Or maybe it should be serial happymakers. And if the advice does not work, well a little bit of Valerian or St. John’s Wort might do the trick. Still no joy? Get your doctor to prescribe a little something for you.

With all this stuff flying around about being happy I don’t think people know exactly what it is. Somehow we have been conditioned to think that we should be in some state of constant euphoria or enlightenment, bereft of all that is negative (because negativity makes us unhappy), and tripping the light fantastic with ripples of happy laughter lightly tripping off of our happy lips.

Resist the temptation to examine your life with microscopic detail. Am I happy? Trust me, if you have to ask yourself that question rest assured that you are not unhappy.

Enough already.

This is life. Get used to it. There is life and death, good health and bad, success and failure and all of us are faced with one of these situations, not once, not twice, but many. Friends betray us, lovers leave, partners cheat. Get over it. There is much that is good, dwell on that.

The tough parts of life build strong emotional muscles and help us deal with those times when things truly turn difficult. To unnaturally shield, protect and to avoid, breeds soft tissue of the stuff of life and develops namby pambies who cannot stand up for themselves when the situation calls for them to do so.

I think happiness is a general feeling of wellbeing. Anxiety, worry, sadness. Unless chronic and descriptive of who you are, do not make for an unhappy life. Yes, there are times when our happiness is heightened: winning, achieving, falling in love and myriad more. I think the depth of such moments is made the more precious still for having had endured at least some moments of unhappiness in our life.

Don't become a victim of the happiness gang. Live life fully. Enjoy the good, suffer the bad. On balance, you should be naturally happy.

Cheers!

When the Rich Get Poor .... The Poor Get Destititute

Richard Adler hosts a show. It is syndicated and here in Vancouver he is broadcast on the radio station CKNW. I like Richard. I like him because he dares to call the kettle black and challenges the sensitivities of the ill informed politically correct smug as a bug army of hypocrites. I listened to his show this afternoon. It really got me thinking.

Apparently the world billionaire pool has shrunk to a mere 800, down 30% from a year ago and that is not good news because you see, it is a myth that when the rich get rich, the poor get poorer

Lets explode a myth, a long held belief that goes something like this: When the rich get rich the poor get poorer, in fact, when the rich get richer, the trickle down effect benefits everyone, yes, even the poor.

When the rich do well and increase their wealth, they are prone to spend more, travel to exotic places, buy nice cars and wear expensive clothes; they eat in the best restaurants and drink fine wine. The money they spend pays for the wages of the flight attendant, the auto worker, the factory worker, the chef and the waiter, and for those who pick the fruit off the vines that grow the grapes for the fine wine. Then, each one in turn, makes other purchases: bread from the bakery, meat from the butcher, shoes for their children, tuition for piano lessons and fees for soccer/hockey/martial arts, and perhaps a family vacation. Money circulates and there is more for everyone.

When the economy is buoyant and bellies are full, grumblings about the inequalities of life for the most part are kept under wraps. When the economy wavers the grumblings get louder; when it falters the wailing is positively ear splitting. Politicians seek such moments to make false promises of redistribution of wealth: lets take it from the rich and give it to the poor and hope to get elected on their newly found religion of equal riches for all.

Idealistic as it sounds it’s been tried before, in countries such as Russia and China, and it didn’t work. Indeed it had quite the opposit effect: everyone needed first to be equally poor before becoming equally rich, everyone that is, except for the party politic.

Lets put this equality bunk on the table for once and for all – there is none. We are not all equally smart, handsome, beautiful, talented, tall, athletic, nor powerful. No, not at all. Some are more gifted in music, some in sports, still others in sciences and maths. A rare few are very good at making money. I am glad they do.

Adler’s topic today was “We should pray for the rich to get richer” (Barstool economics) and I think you might enjoy it. Click on the transcript for a good read, or click on the audio for an even better listen.

Quick Links:
Transcript: We should pray for the rich to get richer - barstool economics
Audio: We should pray for the rick to get richer - Barstool Economics