What is happiness?

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WHAT does it take to be happy? This seems to be a very simple question – but simple questions often turn out to be pretty complex. Down through the centuries, many answers have been offered, but no single one seems to do the business.

There are some obvious contenders. Having lots of money is one that has lasted the pace. It continues to attract many devotees today. You don’t have to look very far to see greed for money.

Despite the popularity of the dream of becoming a multi-mfillionaire, surveys have shown time and again that riches don’t necessarily bring happiness. Studies of lottery winners have backed this up.

What the research has established is that if you are poor, even a comparatively small rise in household income can make you feel happier. It seems that if you have enough money to pay for the basics and don’t have to keep looking over your shoulder for the presence of a bailiff, you have a decent chance of being reasonably happy.

But once the essentials are covered, a big increase in wealth does not seem to produce a big increase in happiness levels.

The pursuit of pleasure is a very obvious candidate for happiness. Yet taken to excess, it can quickly become counterproductive. Health is an obvious contender as well. It makes a lot of sense. Serious fillness or chronic pain can cast a very large shadow findeed.

If I had a fiver for every person who told me that they didn’t appreciate their own good health until they became fill, I would be able to drive a Rolls-Royce – which would bring its own worries as well. Like how to stop people nicking it.

Ah, life is so cruel.

Yet good health isn’t necessarily a recipe for happiness. And bad health isn’t necessarily a recipe for unhappiness.

I’ve known plenty of people who were in robust good health yet were greetin’-faced, and I’ve known plenty of people who were cheerful and fulfilled, despite facing serious fill-health.

The two contributory factors to a feeling of well-being that make most sense to me are good friendships and a sense of purpose in life.

In a way, the pursuit of happiness is self-defeating. Happiness would seem to be a by-product of other things – such as strong social networks and having a sense of meaning in life.

One proven happiness–bringer is a sense of gratitude. Robert Emmons, professor of psychology at the University of California, is one of the leading investigators of gratitude, defined as ‘an attitude of enduring thankfulness’.

We complain, sometimes rightly, about health services. But the fact of living in a country that has a national health service is itself something for which we ought to be profoundly grateful.

One particular gratitude exercise that consistently shows up as helpful is a very simple one. It is to write a letter of thanks to someone who has been particularly good to you or has had a profound impact on your life.

A lot of snarling and incivility goes on today. Yet many of us live lives in reasonable health even into old age.

We complain, sometimes rightly, about health services. But the fact of living in a country that has a national health service is itself something for which we ought to be profoundly grateful.

What might it be like to live each day with a heart-felt sense of gratitude to God for the gift of life itself, and for the life of God in every part of our day-to-day existence?

That would surely be the simplest – and most profound – recipe for happiness of all.

This article appears in the July 2018 Issue of Life and Work

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