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I'm Deborah, survivor of everything from multiple cancer battles to major business setbacks. Join my search for ways to move the mountains, big & small, that block your path to success.
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What makes us happy

Makes You Happy

In the film classic The Big Chill, a group of former college classmates try to understand why a member of their clique would end his life. One asks his new girlfriend if it’s true that he was unhappy. “I don’t know,” she answers. “I haven’t met that many happy people in my life, how do they act?”

Now, thanks to a new study dubbed “the first representative sample of planet Earth,” we know that regardless of gender, age, or cultural background, happy people act like they’re content with their … bank accounts?

That’s right. The songs say money can’t buy you love and money can’t buy you class, but apparently whether you live in New York City or a remote Southeast Asian village, it can buy you happiness.

Wait … huh? But what about the stories our parents and grandparents tell of the simple joys they experienced growing up during the Great Depression? What about all those people who say their lives were destroyed when they won the lottery? What about all those happy poor people on Little House on the Prairie???

Surely money isn’t the source of genuine happiness.

Digging deeper


Well … no, not exactly.

Actually, the link between income and perceived happiness isn’t new. It’s common for the people making the most money to automatically answer “yes” when asked if they’re happy. This time researchers decided to find out why. The survey, conducted by Gallup, posed detailed questions to nearly 137,000 people in 132 countries; samples were carefully designed so the end result would represent about 96 percent of the planet.

It turns out that keeping up with the Joneses is a universal pastime. No matter where they live or how wealthy their culture, when asked if they’re “happy,” people automatically view their circumstances on a comparative scale. Instead of thinking about personal happiness, they think about how their society measures success—by material prosperity. If they compare favorably, they say they’re happy.

But while the higher wage earners in each culture expressed “happiness” with their success, income had little to do with their day-to-day emotions. When the researchers went deeper, asking subjects about their actual feelings, guess what made them happy? Being respected, having control over their lives, and having a strong support system.

Taking stock


As the researchers discovered, people blur the lines between career satisfaction and emotional well-being. That’s okay when things are going well and you can automatically check “happy” on the survey. But when the economy melts down, your income dips, your job goes away, or you’re no longer keeping up with the Joneses, does your happiness and well-being disappear, too?

If you’ve lost the joy of living, think about whether you’ve linked too much of your happiness to what you do instead of what you have. If you’re respected by friends and associates, maintain some measure of control over your life, and have people who love you, then you can still be happy.




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