Happiness and Well-being:A global movement - A local solution

happycounts.org

What the Happiness Initiative is about:

A New Economic Paradigm

But how do we connect Global

Happiness

Your Happiness

in today’s world where wealth, money and consumption trump all?

What makes you happy?guided exercise

What makes you happy?

gratitudegiving

compassion – mindfulness

in one word…others

Conversation & Discussion

In small groups, share where it is comfortable:What makes you happy?What comes up for you?

Together choose one or two points to share in the larger group

Come together to share one or two points from each group.

Some research indicates external is only 10%; other research indicates up to 33%. This field of research is in early stages; the issue is complicated and the determinates are interlinked.

Robert Kennedy on GDP Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence

and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product ... if we should judge America by that - counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead, and armored cars for police who fight riots in our streets. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children. Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it tells us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.

Does money make us happy? • GDP in the US has more than tripled since 1950s.

• Adjusted per capita GDP since 1960 has doubled since 2010

• Happiness has remained stagnant and even fallen

Easterlin Paradox

40 year study of nations across the globe

Up to a salary of $75K for family of four, long and short term happiness increases a lot with more money

After a salary of $75K, long term happiness increases are marginal or non-existent, short term increases in happiness do occur.

Unbalanced and Unfair

The United States has the widest gap between rich and poor of any wealthy country.

The Nation, Unjust Spoils, Robert Reich

Share of annual national income earned by the top 1 % of Americans: 1980 8 percent

2010 24 percent Share earned by the bottom 50% 2010 20 percent

How much do we need?

If everyone on earth consumed at the level of the United States, we would need five to seven Planets.

When money does the talking.. The US is the only wealthy nation without laws requiring :

– Paid Sick Days– Paid holidays – Paid Maternity Leave– Paid Vacations

The US spends nearly twice per capita on healthcare than any other nation yet, according the CIA fact book, the US ranks (out of 150 countries)

– 50th in the world in life expectancy– 46th in the world in infant mortality– 2nd in the world in obesity

Happiness Initiatives

Your Happiness Index

Scores for the over 25,000 people who have taken the GNH Index

Our Nation’s Gross National Happiness Index

Five regrets of the dying

I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.

I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

I wish that I had let myself be happier.

A happiness challenge Global

Happiness

Your Happiness

with global action & personal actionbuilding personal happiness building community happiness

to

How Happy Are You?

Take the Gross National Happiness Index to find out. Use it as a guide to enhance your happiness

and the well-being of others.

Visit happycounts.org to take the Gross National Happiness Index