June 23, 2023
“Happiness is a warm puppy”. Charles Schulz. “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. The Constitution of the United States of America.
In the February 27, 2006 issue of The New Yorker there was an article on pursuing happiness. It turns out that by nature we have been hardwired to emphasize the negative. Survival depended on being wary. The curious and unwary could be eaten by bears or tigers. “Call no man happy until he is dead” was a popular Greek saying. According to many psychologists, once we are out of poverty, the most important determinant of happiness is our “set point”, our natural level of happiness, which is largely inherited.
Of course, we have no control over our set point. Those of you who have more than one child know that children do seem to be wired differently. Same parents, same conditions and yet so different. However, we can control our attitude. “As a Man Thinketh” by James Allen made quite the impact on me. We also can decide if and how much volunteer work we will do.
Ready for the secret to happiness? Here it is: “Happiness is equal to your set point S, plus your life conditions C, plus a bit of volunteer work, V. H = S + C + V”. If you want a copy of the article, let me know.
In January of 2021 I posted this note and mentioned that during the pandemic, it was hard to do much volunteer work. The executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters responded to my email declaring that it was possible to be a Big Brother using Zoom. In May of 2021, I met with my “Little”. On our first outing I told the young man, “I suppose you were hoping for a 27 year old Big Brother, not a 77 year old one.” He simply smiled in response. On June 4th I attended his high school graduation party and his mother gave me a big hug. It was a very gratifying experience. Maybe you should check out www.bigdefenders.org
“Happiness is hard to put into words. It’s also harder to source, much more mysterious than anger or sorrow, which come to me promptly, whenever I summon them, and remain long after I’ve begged them to leave.” David Sedaris
Category : General 