Gross National Happiness (GNH)
(In celebration of the International Day of Happiness (March 20, 2021)
Dr Abe V Rotor
Have you heard of a measure of growth and development based on people's happiness?
Well, it is called Gross National Happiness (GNH) by Bhutan, the proponent of the idea. It is more than people's welfare which is the aim of Human Development Index (HDI). And it is a radical alternative to Gross National Product (GNP) which is a broad and unqualified gross measure of a country's economic growth.
Bhutan's bold attempt to quantify national well-being and achieve sustainable
development (Gross National Happiness Index) is opening the eyes of the world to the paradox that rising incomes don't bring happiness (Easterlin Paradox, named for American economist Richard Easterlin).
This is a long known fact but it was shrouded by an apparently progressive capitalistic world in the last three decades - until recently – when economic crisis gripped the most progressive countries led by the US and members of the European Union, now affecting other countries, among them the the Philippines.
Filipinos are naturally a happy people
amidst hardship and difficulties in life.
The paradox is steadily being felt in China as it replaced Japan as the second biggest economy of the world. And the new tiger economies as well - Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, including India which is
an upcoming technology giant.
(Singapore Survey: Less than a third of the population doesn’t like to live to a 100 years.)
Unhappiness has been the cause of depression, and depression often leads to self-destruction. Rising incomes, if taken as an analogy to Easterlin Paradox, increases the rate of depression and therefore suicide. Thus the highest rate of suicide in the world has been observed in highly industrialized countries like Japan, the US and UK, with victims that include young men and women in the prime of their careers, and set to "conquer the world" but have failed to meet their aspirations.
GNH is a Eastern alternative to pressures of the materialistic Western world. The new measure aims at reducing pressure of living on the fast lane. It reduces the influx to cities and consequential buildup of urban marginal communities. It holds on to time-tested, community-based living. It is an alternative to a stressful life, and pressures of competition.
To make GNH workable, Bhutan is adopting a program based on four pillars, namely
- sustainable economic development
- conservation of the environment
- preservation of culture
- good governance
What is happiness sought for by a people, by a nation or region? It is really more than material benefit. It is more than growth of institutions. Of high rise buildings and wide avenues. It is something that elevates the human spirit on a higher level, albeit religiosity. It is something that speaks of now and tomorrow, of the welfare of our children and children's children.
Translated to the individual person, happiness may be gauged by his answers to these simple questions often encountered in daily living.
- "How many people can you count on for help in case you get sick?"
- "How often do you eat meals together as a family?"
- "How restful can you be after a weekend?"
- "How comfortable are you with the level of household debt?"
- "How satisfied are you in your present work.?"
- "How often do to take time out with the kids?"
- "How comfortable are you at home? In the neighborhood?"
- "How secure are you with your income? Savings?"
- "How fulfilled are you your career? Livelihood? Vocation?"
- "How satisfied are you with you community's governance?"
- "How satisfied are you in sharing your talents and resources?
- "How well preserved is your natural environment?
Maybe we might as well ask
- "How happy did you feel yesterday?"
- "How satisfied are you with life today.?
-------------------------------------
Happiness is ….
Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life. Omar Khayyam (PHOTO FROM RUBAIYAT)
Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. Dale Carnegie
There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved. George Sand
Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. Albert Schweitzer
Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort. Franklin D. Roosevelt
The secret to happiness is freedom... And the secret to freedom is courage. Thucydides
A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness. It is an expression of humility. It is a foundation for the development of such virtues as prayer, faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being. James E. Faust
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. Mahatma Gandhi
Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. Nathaniel Hawthorne
Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness, of hatred, of jealousy, and, most easily of all, the gate of fear. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life. Albert Camus
Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go. Oscar Wilde
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Thomas Jefferson
True happiness is... to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future. Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Happiness depends upon ourselves. Aristotle
Happiness resides not in possessions, and not in gold, happiness dwells in the soul. Democritus
Joy can only be real if people look upon their life as a service and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness. Leo Tolstoy
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. Ernest Hemingway
The happiness of the bee and the dolphin is to exist. For man it is to know that and to wonder at it. Jacques Yves Cousteau
A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy dare live. Bertrand Russell
“The basic thing is that everyone wants happiness, no one wants suffering. And happiness mainly comes from our own attitude, rather than from external factors. If your own mental attitude is correct, even if you remain in a hostile atmosphere, you feel happy. If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only make others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace. If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” - Dalai Lama
A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy? Albert Einstein
-------------------
The United Nations declared 20 March the International Day of Happiness to recognize the relevance of happiness and well being as universal goals.
Parameters of Happiness of GNH Index:
1. Psychological Well-Being
2. Health
3. Time Use
4. Education
5. Cultural Diversity
6. Good Governance
7. Community Vitality
8. Ecological Diversity and Resilience
9. Living Standards
10. Family
11. Spirituality
12. Sense of Achievement
Self-evaluation: Rate yourself using the Likert Scale: 1 Very Poor, 2 Poor, 3 Fair, 4 Good, and 5 Very Good.
Compute the average by adding the values of all the parameter, and divide it sum with 12. This is the general perception of happiness of the person concerned. What is equally - if not more important - is in being able to find out the main source of happiness, at the same time, the least. This exercise therefore, is aimed at re-affirming our sense of values in the pursuit of happiness. So does a community.
We say we are happy, or a little happy. Or unhappy. Or sad. But how can we quantify happiness like in a grading system?
The founding father of happiness research, Dr Happiness himself - Dr Edward Diener of the University of Illinois.* calls this technique The Satisfaction with Life Scale.
This test can be used in the classroom, in meetings and conferences, or just for the sake of bonding with friends and associates.
On a piece of paper rate yourself in each of the following items. Use a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 is not true at all, 4 is moderately true and 7 absolutely true. The scale allows you to approximate closer to your self-judgment.
Integrated art workshop for children conducted by senior citizens. Graduation with Vice Mayor Nancy Tabanda and OSCA Chair Dr Peroma L Pacis as guests in the workshop graduation. San Vicente, IS 2016
Here are the criteria:
1. In most ways my life is close to my ideal.
2. The conditions of my life are excellent.
3. I am satisfied with my life.
4. So far I have gotten the important things I want in life.
5. If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.
Compute for the total score by adding all values from the five questions. Here is the interpretation of your score.
· If you got 31 to 35, you are extremely satisfied with your life. Kudos!
· If you got 26 to 30, you are very satisfied with your life.
· If you scored 21 to 25, you are slightly satisfied. Two participants got scores on this level.
· Those who scored 15 to 19 (slightly dissatisfied) will have to perk up and unload some reasons. Get to the neutral point which is 20, and thence move up the happiness ladder.
It's not hopeless if you got low. The idea of this exercise is to create awareness that there are avenues of happiness, and that there are basic levels of happiness that one can cling to, and say, "Oh well, that's life." And still manage to laugh. And the world laughs with you. “Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you will weep alone.” Ella Wilcox ~
No comments:
Post a Comment