English topic.doc

Topic 1: happiness index
Are you happy?
We all want to be happy. No one in his right mind desires otherwise.
But walk around the city and it will be obvious that our community has started looking less and less happy since the onset of material abundance some two generations ago. We are getting more worried, hurried and stressed every day.
The same is true for most developed societies around the globe. But whilst on holidays and academic exchange, I encountered a revelation - a correlation between modern material life and temperament: that the more "primitive" a community is (as quantifiable by the average number of electrical appliances in each household), the more those people "enjoy life" and are friendly towards others.
Bhutan, that "backward" country with precious little modern convenience and entertainment, has been consistently found to be one of the happiest nations on this planet. What does this tell us?
No, this is not a call to return to prehistoric life without electricity or international commerce. It is just that, along life's journey, this writer managed to pick up a few gems of wisdom which enabled this foolish soul to weather through storms and turbulence. What I discovered was that if only one dispels certain myths prevalent in our mindset, he or she will be blessed with perennial happiness.
Myth #1. Happiness is an endowment reserved for the lucky few - and I am not one of them.
Reality: Happiness is a birthright. It is a matter of choice. It is a habit. It is a skill to acquire and perfect. Some people are born into wealthy and happy families. Others are blessed with superb intelligence, good looks, or enviable talents. Researches prove that these people are not necessarily happier than others. On the contrary, one needs none of the above to be truly and always happy!
Myth #2. Happiness has a material foundation - the bigger the number in my bank account, the happier I will be.
Reality: While it is true that a secure basic material life enables most people to have a better chance of feeling happy, research confirms that there is no correlation between one's bank account status or material life (cars, holidays, dining out and shopping loots, etc.) and happiness. Indeed most multi-billionaires score well below average on the happiness index scale. If you are convinced that you need whatever (the latest iPhone, less body fat, a bigger house, a better husband) to be happy, you are depriving yourself of the privilege to be happy. The time to be happy is now. You are only happy if you permit yourself to be - without pre-conditions.
Myth #3. Happiness depends on circumstance - people and circumstances often make me unhappy.
Reality: Just as it takes two to tango, no one and nothing can victimize you until you allow yourself to think so. We can lose money, an argument, a job, a limb, virginity, face, credibility, and more, but these are not defeats or damages unless you regard them as such. It is precisely such foolish irrational insistence that ruins your in-born happiness. Life situations are lessons to learn and scenarios to act out in the drama. They can be enjoyed, happily.
Myth # 4. Life is full of suffering - and our business is to stay afloat and remain sane.
Reality: Life is full of suffering only when we look at things in negative ways. We all create our own sufferings out of greed, ignorance, negligence and selfishness. The universe was not created to imprison and torture anyone (why should any intelligent and kind deity do so?). Everything in this world is arranged in the best order, and we are where we should be, always.
Myth # 5. Life is a drama with a tragic ending - and nothing will spare us from the tortures of old age and the uncertainties of life "beyond".
Reality: Again, why in the universe should any super playwright design such a pathetic show ending with a dreadful anti-climax? The fact that people suffer in the final decades of their lives these days is a regrettable outcome of the failures on the part of our civilization. All communities in the past regarded death as a transmigration to be celebrated. Anyone looking forward to eternal bliss waiting "over there" would be worry-free and happy.
Now you can be happy. You realize, again, that happiness is our nature; it is how things and all of us are supposed to be.
Happiness is highly contagious. The best way to be happy is to spread this virus. Have fun.