Happiness is...

Cutting back my time somewhat in SL has cut down on the adventures of the avatar. So there is not quite as much to write about. On the other hand, cutting back my time in SL has increased the time the other me is musing.

I’m reading a book called “The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World” by Eric Weiner. The author is traveling to 10 countries worldwide in search of happiness. In a sort of Bill Bryson humoristic way, the book is hilarious and profound.

Did you know that the country of Bhutan has a policy of Gross National Happiness? The idea is that they seek to measure a nation’s progress not by its balance sheet but rather by the happiness—or unhappiness—of its people. It seems there is limited emphasis on money or material wealth in Bhutan.

Wouldn’t that be a unique approach to life? Not being so concerned about the almighty dollar, but rather about caring for one another and each other’s well being. Being content with what we have and not focusing on temporal things. Imagine that being a national policy!!

Well, I’m certainly no expert. And volumes and volumes have been written about happiness. So I defer to those who know about these things. But I just found an interesting website I’d like to share with you about happiness. http://www.happiness-project.com/

I’m going to be exploring it too. Here are some guiding principles I discovered there:

Four Splendid Truths

• First: To be happier, you have to think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth.
• Second: One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy; One of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy yourself.
• Third: The days are long, but the years are short. (click the link to see my one-minute movie)
• Fourth: You’re not happy unless you think you’re happy

So are you wondering if this interest in researching happiness means that I am an unhappy person? The truth is no, I am actually a very happy person with a positive outlook on life. But we all can use a little self-examination sometimes and we all have room for improvement. Capiche?