Happiness is .....

Did you notice a newly formed charity, the Movement for Happiness is seeking a director whose job will be to bring joy to the world. Salary for the post, around £80,000 a year. The advertisement for the job reads, 'We hope this movement will help to shift our culture away from selfish materialism towards more rewarding forms of social engagement.'
Evidently the Society wants the successful applicant to have a vision of a society in which people are motivated by more than just money.
Happiness - brightness, cheerfulness, delight, gaiety, joy, light-heartedness, merriment, pleasure; beatitude, blessedness, bliss, felicity, enjoyment, welfare, well-being.
Happy- characterised by luck or good fortune; prosperous. Having, taking, or demonstrating pleasure or satisfaction; glad.

What was it Richard Whately ( Archbishop of Dublin (1787-1863) said, 'Happiness is no laughing matter.' (I have probably taken him out of context but I must admit he doesn't exactly sound a bundle of fun!)

I have never considered myself particularly materialistic yet many of my pleasures in life are purchased with money. Money purchases houses and furnishings. My motor home gives us pleasure, Derby County support costs money, our home is bigger than need be and the furnishings far from sparse. We constantly make purchases that we feel improve our life style if not our life. My latest toy, my IPod too gives pleasure yet is totally irrelevant in the larger picture.

Some of those 'into' religion will no doubt dismiss materialism as an irrelevance, citing the search for eternal salvation as the key to happiness on earth. (Being cynical by nature I am bound to ask why so many of my religious acquaintances have large cars, huge houses and often bank balances to match.)
It is not difficult to see that much of my own happiness stems from non-materialistic sources. Marriage, (forty years this week!) a loving wife, delightful children, fantastic grandchildren have made the most contribution to my joy and sanity in an often cruel world. And it goes without saying good health is far more important than mere wealth. What brings you most happiness in life?

Which brings me back to the Movement for Happiness. What do you think of the whole idea. How do you think the new director should go about his or her task. And what would you do given the job? I'd love to know!

Perhaps William Wordsworth 1770-1850 put it best when he wrote
Not in Utopia-subterranean fields,-
Or some secreted island, Heaven knows where!
But in the very world, which is the world
Of all of us,- the place where, in the end
We find our happiness, or not at all!

Not a million miles from the ideas of the Movement for Happiness.