Chapter Sixteen: The Pursuit Continued (~jinghan)

I have to come out and admit, I’ve had a pretty dodgy semester so far. I’ve been sick, encountered death for the first time, suffered insomnia, struggled to concentrate in class and struggling to feel that same enthusiasm towards my studies as I did last year.

It was perhaps an unexpected but good choice for me to sit down and write my essay for my breath subject and find myself face-to-face with the topic of happiness.

Did you know that in Bhutan they have implemented a Gross National Happiness indicator to replace Gross National Product. Instead of measuring production and consumption they’re taking into account:

1. Psychological well-being
2. Time use
3. Community vitality
4. Culture
5. Health
6. Education
7. Environmental diversity
8. Living standard
9. Governance

I can’t help but feel a little bit excited reading, “GNH indicators include both objective and subjective dimensions of life. The construction of an index should give equal weight to both the functional aspects of human society as well as the emotive side of human experience.”

Instead of planning out my essay I get a little bit side tracked by tests on the Making Australia Happy webpage.

In a group, I try to make sure everyone feels included.

very much like me/like me/neutral/unlike me/very much unlike me

I know how to handle myself in different social situations.

very much like me/like me/neutral/unlike me/very much unlike me

The goodness of other people almost brings tears to my eyes.

very much like me/like me/neutral/unlike me/very much unlike me

“Yes! Exactly!” I feel like jumping up and waving my arms in the air to some of the questions. There are some things on the list that are very much unlike me, and I am a little disappointed at first, but I figured that for everything that is not my strength it’ll be someone else’s strength.

I can’t help feel a little happy flutter of pride in my heart when I click the “submit” button and am rewarded with my results:

Your Top Character Strength

Appreciation of beauty and excellence
You notice and appreciate beauty, excellence, and/or skilled performance in all domains of life, from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience.

[If you want to take this character strengths test you will find it here > either on the page or here click the link “Go to Tests to take the VIA Survey of Character Strengths“. You will have to register, but it’s a fairly painless minimally demanding process, and I promise it’ll give you lots of perspective on life.]

It’s the next morning now, and I’m still hungrily reading about happiness (and still haven’t started actually writing that essay)

Research suggests that neither a good education nor a high IQ reliably increases happiness. Anders Ericsson argues that [for] an IQ above 120 … other factors start to matter more, like social skills or a good mentor.

Ha! Take that Melbourne Uni and your highly demanding academic standards!

At least for now I am perfectly enthusiastic about my study, and don’t feel very stupid for struggling with my subjects anymore.

P.S. while reading up on happiness I found some suspicious overlap of information between the wikipedia article on Positive Psychology and the Time article The New Science of Happiness… hm… chicken or the egg?