Be Happy

I was reading an article about the late Christina Onassis the other day, while I was waiting to have my hair trimmed. I'd decided to lash out a little and have it washed and blow dried also. Apparently, the world's wealthiest woman was a very 'down to earth' kind of lady, in fact, although it was never actually confirmed, it was rumored that she even used to wash her own hair!

Sure, I'm sure she had her ups and downs, just like all of us of 'down to earth' people, but I guess, too, it's all relative. Like this morning when I took my jeans out of the washer only to find they were covered in little pieces of fluff white stuff. I just bet Ms Onassis never experienced the frustration of discovering she'd accidently left a tissue in the pocket of her jeans when she washed them.Then again, on the flip side, maybe one of the reasons she was reputed to be so damned miserable most of her life was that, and I know this is very cliched, she never really enjoyed the simple things in life.

It's interesting to note studies done by the University of Illinois and University of Pennsylvania, last year, revealed that a nation's economic fortitude is not as tied to the well-being of its citizens as previous believed."It has been assumed that money increases well-being and, although money can be measured with exactitude, it is an inexact surrogate to the actual well-being of a nation. In a 1985 survey, respondents from the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans and the Maasai of East Africa were almost equally satisfied and ranked relatively high in well-being. The Maasai are a traditional herding people who have no electricity or running water and live in huts made of dung. It follows, that economic development and personal income must not account for the happiness that they are so often linked to."Instead, the researchers propose that a population's "engagement, purpose and meaning, optimism and trust, and positive and negative emotions in specific areas such as work life and social relationships" should be considered when measuring the strength of a nation.

The sad truth is that we're twice as rich as we were in 1957, but only half as happy. Dr. David Myers, authority on the psychology of happiness: "Never has a culture experienced such physical comfort combined with such psychological misery. Never have we felt so free, or had our prisons so overstuffed. Never have we been so sophisticated about pleasure, or so likely to suffer broken relationships."

Myers dubs us "the doubly affluent society." In nearly 50 years, we have twice as many cars per person. Our homes are bigger and our families are smaller. We have microwave ovens, dishwashers, and so many more labour saving appliances. Plasma screen TVs, home computers, and endless other gadgets and gizmos for our entertainment pleasure. We spend billions a year in restaurants, bars, and spas. Yet, despite this 'wealth', we're not as happy as our parents and grandparents!

Damn it!

Of course money provides our material needs but does it ever fully satisfy our material wants? Like a drug, it gives us a short burst of happiness, but what is enough to satisfy us completely long term? It's the phenomenon scientists call the "hedonic treadmill". We get a pay rise, we spend more, we spend more so we need a pay rise, and so on.

Ah, but I digress.

So, back to me at the hairdressers. Well, after I had my hair done, I went home and had a good look in the mirror. My hair didn't really look very different just shorter. The herbal essences, exotic extracts, and all the other goodies, that were supposed to be in the shampoo, once again, just hadn't worked the same magic they always seem to in the ads.

Later, when my other half came home he glanced at me and said, "Your hair looks good." Let me tell you, that gave me a buzz money just couldn't buy!

Footnote: In the same magazine there was an article about Christina Onassis' daughter, Anitha. Often dubbed 'the poor little rich girl', she was recently quoted as saying, " I just want to be like everyone else." It's kind of ironic isn't it, that money just can't buy that for her?