Wow, I am very sorry to not having been available. I have been having some troubles with spam and so on recently, making me sick of my own blog. But now I have dealt with the problems, and here is the promised article about happiness.

Nic Marks is in his speech “About Happiness and Climate Change” talking about happiness. In his speech, he is considering economic progress and the way that the gross domestic product is internationally used as a measure for progress. However, what this number does not tell us is how happy the people in the countries really are. For although economy and wealth is important to people, it cannot be compared to the importance of happiness and love in people’s lives.

So what is really happiness? If it is not money, then what is it?

I remember reading about a philosopher once who said that “a man without dreams and ambitions is too miserable to exist”, or something similar. However, the point was that we as people are designed to work, to create and dream. These are things that drive us, that give our lives meaning, that make us happy,  was this philosophers’ ideas and thoughts. So is the recipe of happiness as simple as this? As long as you have things to do in your every-day life and have dreams and yearnings, you can be as happy as the happiest man on earth? Or is there more to it?

How about love? The famous and most well-used theme and emotion in the world. Well, one could almost say that happiness includes love in some way or the other anyway, at least in terms of being in a state of mind that pleases us so much that we cannot believe it as anything else as happiness. But is happiness a long- or a short-term affair? Is being happy for a short period of life the same as happiness? Is having a relationship with someone for a short period of time out of admiration rather then real feelings happiness?

Sorry for all the questions, but there are so many things that can join in when defining happiness. This is why I looked upon Nic Marks’ Happy Planet Index with a critical eye. He says that he can measure happiness. I believe that this is not possible. Point stated.

I think that we all must learn to find our own happiness. To me it would be finding someone that I can be together with for the rest of my life, one that I can love and (very rarely, hopefully) fight with, but that never leaves my side. I want to have a family, and a job that I can be content with. I want a good education, because knowledge interests me. I dream of growing old, and being able to look back on my life saying that life was worthwile.

What is your recipe for hapiness?

- elgvin