We watched "happy" last night. its a documentary film that focuses on the nature of happiness and travels the world to explain why certain parts of the world are happier than others. Our brother-in-law, Mark recommended this film and I thought it was awesome. Good call, Mark... :)
They reference a book I read back in college, which was quite funny. It's called Flow. Flow is the "mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does." There were many examples in the film of people experiencing flow. Some were at work, while being a cook in a busy restaurant. I had to stop and think, when do i feel like I experience flow?
The age-old adage "money can't buy happiness" was focused on a bit more in this film. In July, my Happiness Project focuses on money so this will come back up again in a few months! Something that I think we all know exists, but I didn't know the name for, is the theory of the Hedonic Treadmill. This is the tendency of a person to remain at a relatively stable level of happiness despite a change in fortune or the achievement of major goals. Good and bad fortunes may temporarily affect how happy a person is, but most people will end up back at their normal level of happiness. We all have our baseline of happiness. So according to the hedonic treadmill, as a person makes more money, expectations and desires rise in tandem, which results in no permanent gain in happiness.... How many times have people said "if i can just get that raise, then...."
It was found that in the U.S., once a person makes $50,000/year, or whatever number is needed so that basic necessities are met, anything after that makes no difference in happiness. A rickshaw driver in India was said to be as happy as a middle-class U.S. citizen. Even though the rickshaw driver had little material comforts and his home didn't even have 4 walls! Yet he had an extensive neighborhood support system which greatly contributed to his happiness.
The film explored what places on earth are the happiest and which are the most unhappy. The most unhappy country was Japan where people work very long hours and literally work themselves to death. They even have a term for it: Karoshi. But surprisingly, one of the happiest places is also just around the corner in a small villiage in Japan called Ogimi. This village boasts of having the world's highest population of centenarians (people over 100 years old!) When these centenarians were asked why they live so long, they said their community is very close-knit. Neighbors take care of each other and their community is like one family. My favorite part was their concept of burials. When a member of their community dies, they cremate the body, and add them to one coffin where the rest of the ashes are of their fellow Ogimians. This just shows how important community is to them. Many have researched this area, curious what their secret to life may be. It could be their healthy diet of vegetables, all of which are grown in their backyards without any pesticides, eating whole grains and low salt intake, going to bed early and getting plenty of sleep, or their nightly dose of sake, as a 106-year-old woman said. She said it helps her sleep every night, and a good night's rest is most important :)
A key point to remember is that they aren't saying that people who are "happier" do not face adversity in life. Of course they do. its just that they come back to their baseline of happiness quicker. For example, when something traumatic happens, like the loss of a job, a loved one, etc... they are able to come back to their personal level of happiness faster. Each of us is born with a pre-disposition to a certain level of happiness.
I found this to be most interesting:
A person's happiness level depends 50% on genetics and 10% circumstances. The genetic pre-disposition is determined by characteristics inherited from our parents, especially temperamental and affective traits. And when you start to think things like "I'm unhappy because all these bad things keep happening to me!" that really only makes up 10% of one's happiness. Life circumstances that influence our happiness level are things like personal experiences, occupation, health, income, religious beliefs, marital status, age, etc..
And that leaves a hefty 40% of something that essentially dictates one's happiness, or at least plays a large part in it. And I was interested to see that this 40% is "intentional activities". Therefore, the idea behind this happiness project is to identify the things that make me happy, and DO them! Well as it turns out, this has a large influence on my overall life happiness! Good enough for me! Intentional activity can be broken down into three areas:
Behavioral activities – such as exercising regularly, being kind to others, and spending time socializing. (check, check, and check! These are all focal points of my project -- Vitality, Selflessness, and Relationships!)
Cognitive activities – such as trying to see the best, pausing to count how lucky one actually is.(Yep, that's September's mindfulness focus)
Volitional activities – striving for personal goals, devoting effort to meaningful causes, contributing to something bigger than oneself. (Covering these in my growth and selflessness resolutions)
So, what's the point of all this?
Oh I don't know, maybe I just realized this elaborate plan of simple little resolutions just may have some science behind it! So my Happiness Project Twenty-Thirteen continues! :)
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