October 22, 2007
The Price of Happiness
A bar of chocolate, a long soak in the bath, a snooze in the middle of the afternoon, a leisurely stroll in the park. These are the things that make us the most happy, according to new research from The University of Nottingham. In a study commissioned by the National Lottery, Dr Richard Tunney of the University’s School of Psychology found that it’s the simple things in life that impact most positively on our sense of well being.
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5 Responses to “The Price of Happiness”
I’ve read other studies such as this, and it’s no surprise to me that they always conclude that it’s the “simple things” that make people happiest. But what usually gets left out of the equation is the fact that those simple things require the luxury of free time. Money truly can buy happiness, to the extent that it can afford us freedom from soul draining work routines, tiresome chores, violent neighborhoods, and the like. That long bath we’re all said to enjoy is a lot nicer if you’re not sharing a single, ugly bathroom with 4 people.
Its true, Daryl, but I would also add something else I’ve experienced–village and tribal life in the Middle East, Central and South America, Africa, Arabia, etc… in those very “poor” environments there is also a form of richness and luxury that, absent a lot of financial resources, actually has the same feel as described in this article. I’ve lived for weeks with relatively poor (some would say very poor) people, and in that world, there has been a form of happiness and luxury of time that can only be known by “taste and feel.” But I have also seen, experienced, and known, “grinding poverty” where the lack of resources creates terrible inner and outer conditions. In both cases it seems to have little to do with actual “resources” but a kind of cultural attitude (or perhaps even “spiritual perception”) that appears to determine which of therse two experiences people are having–either grinding poverty, or simple happiness.
Not my comment, Lynn–I was taking a bath in chocolate while reading crappy student papers. All in all the experience was so so.
Ah… that Cindy! Sorry Cindy… But YOU Daryl… it was the chocolate you were bathing in, not the student papers that made it a “meager” experience — its gotta be DARK chocolate, preferrable 70% cocoa butter.
It’s okay, Lynn–apparently when I’m drunk I sign in as Daryl, anyway. And I agree with all you say in your comment.