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Details: Written by: Kamran Mofid; Published: 20 April 2021; Hits: 1107

Happiness during the stress and uncertainty of COVID-19 can seem elusive.

But, nonetheless, some people have been happier than before the pandemic. But, why?

Photo:The Economic Times

‘For many, the pandemic has been a mostly negative experience. The majority dealing with chronic stress and fatigue, tired of juggling the demands of family – and others who've had to deal directly with the suffering of loss and grief.

And yet, some people are flourishing during the pandemic. Experts say about 20 percent of the population say they are feeling better than they did before COVID-19 struck. Experts call this "lockdown relief" and for some, it's helping them to thrive during this time of extreme stress.’-Jennifer Moss, CBC Happiness and Well-being Columnist

A Reflection on Happiness by Meik Wiking (pronounced “Mike Viking”), the bestselling author, public speaker and CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen. His latest book, Happy Moments is published by Penguin.

(N.B. In support of what you are about to read, I have inserted a few links from our GCGI’s Postings to compliment Wiking’s reflection)

‘Putting good food on the table with loved ones is still the most universal source of happiness:’

Meik Wiking Photo: Chris McAndrew/The Observer

…’Wiking found success in 2016 with The Little Book of Hygge, on the Danish art of being cosy and content during harsh winters, which sold more than 1m copies worldwide, but the Happiness Research Institute is his baby. It sounds like something from a Hans Christian Andersen tale but, instead of being filled with “puppies and ice-cream”, as he puts it, the office houses 10 analysts, who use the intel they’ve gathered to advise governments, foundations, employers and impact investors (companies that want to invest in something which will make a difference to the world).

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'Quantifying happiness is difficult, but “not impossible”, says Wiking, adding that “we measure a lot of things that are subjective, such as stress, loneliness and depression,” so why not happiness? One of the ways to deal with its subjectivity is to follow individuals over time: for its pandemic study the Happiness Research Institute quizzed 3,211 participants up to six times each over three months.

It broke down happiness into elements including overall life satisfaction (“All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life these days?”); whether your mood is positive on any given day; and whether you have a sense of purpose or meaning, based on Aristotle’s thoughts on the good life (eudaimonia).

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'Its Covid-19 survey found that, while daily moods have dipped during the pandemic, sense of purpose hasn’t waned. And the UN’s latest World Happiness Report, which similarly acknowledged a 10% increase in day-to-day sadness and worry, stated that life satisfaction had remained on a par with previous years. Other polls have suggested some people have been happier during Covid-19.

'Why hasn’t there been a more comprehensive happiness slump? Wiking says draining commutes have disappeared, family time has increased and, for most people, the main contributors to happiness have remained fairly stable. “Putting good food on the table with loved ones is still perhaps the most universal source of happiness,” he says.

'What the pandemic has done is underscore the joy of simple pleasures. The link between happiness and money has been well-documented over the years and while, in general, rich people are happier than poor people, it’s not that money buys happiness but that “being without money” and unable to afford food and shelter causes unhappiness. Once you’ve passed a certain threshold, “if you’re already making good money, and you make £200 extra, you buy a more expensive bottle of wine but it doesn’t matter”.

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'The pandemic has made that clear by “decoupling wealth from happiness”, he continues. “You can’t go on exotic holidays or to fancy restaurants, but you can go walking. So perhaps this year we realised better than ever that we can find happiness through simple things accessible to all.” He says we’ve reached “peak happiness for ‘stuff’”, whereas hikes or swims are more reliable mood-boosters.

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'Covid-19 has also diminished the possibility for social comparisons. “There’s an American saying that ‘A happy man is a man who makes $100 more than his wife’s sister’s husband,’ and that concept shows up a lot in the data,” says Wiking. We derive pleasure from being more successful than our neighbours or friends – but become anxious when we’re not. By purging our social media feeds of sparkling shots of Michelin-starred meals and island getaways, the pandemic has reduced angst, envy and fear of missing out. That no one is having fun – except the Kardashians and those pesky Aussies – makes us feel better.

'These pandemic-era observations affirm much of the work Wiking has been doing for the past eight years. The Happiness Research Institute’s rise has coincided with a broader global movement as governments and the general public have started taking happiness seriously. In 2008, Bhutan conducted its first Gross National Happiness survey; in 2016 the UAE installed a Minister of State for Happiness; and in 2019, New Zealand introduced a wellbeing budget to ensure policies consider citizens’ quality of life. Meanwhile, wildly popular happiness psychology courses have sprouted at Yale, Berkeley and Bristol universities, and authors and entrepreneurs have filled bookshops, app stores and airwaves with tips to get us beaming. The movement has caused many an eyebrow to arch, partly because it can be considered frivolous, says Wiking. “Why should we care about how happy people are?”

'Scepticism also stems from doubts about whether these developments have the capacity to effect actual change in people. For starters, can anyone attain happiness? Wiking pauses, choosing his words carefully. “Not necessarily.”

'Several forces outside our control influence our ability to be happy, including genetics (studies of identical twins show they have similar mood levels); the natural rhythms of life (happiness tends to follow a U-shape, peaking when we’re young and old and nosediving in our 40s); and where we live (the least-happy countries include war-torn Syria, Burundi and the Central African Republic). “I don’t think we can go to people in refugee camps and say, ‘Listen guys, happiness is a choice,’” says Wiking. “We need to acknowledge external and genetic conditions and not put the entire responsibility on the individual.”

'Indeed, if you look at global happiness rankings, the top 10 countries – the Nordics, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland – are all wealthy. Money matters. Yet countries with similar GDPs record different levels of citizen life satisfaction, and some poorer nations, such as Costa Rica, score highly. A nation’s success at converting “wealth into wellbeing” mostly comes down to its ability to eliminate sources of unhappiness, says Wiking. Some who have struggled to do this include Italy, where women are “significantly” less happy than men because of gender inequality; Spain, where high youth unemployment affects morale; and South Korea, where pressure on young people’s academic performance has been linked to high suicide rates. Conversely, Denmark’s widespread access to education and healthcare remove anxiety- inducing competitiveness. “I like to say the Nordic countries are not the happiest in the world – they’re the least unhappy,” comments Wiking.

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'Nationality aside, if an individual made a conscious effort to try to become happier, is success possible? Or do genetics and other factors mean we’re forever glued to one point on the smile spectrum?

“I don’t think you are stuck,” says Wiking, and he’s backed up by the positive psychology discourse that has been ascendant since the late 1990s, which suggests change is possible. But it’s not a quick fix – as others attest.

“I do not believe books or lectures alone are sufficient to make behavioural changes to any great effect,” says Bruce Hood, a psychology professor who runs the science of happiness course at Bristol University. “Knowledge is not enough and, as Aristotle pointed out, action is needed,” he says, meaning you need to work hard to develop new behavioral habits that might contribute to a peppier mindset – something that apps and courses can perhaps encourage.

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'Even so, perspective is needed to see past the smoke and mirrors, and aspirational marketing speak. We’re forever hopeful we might become a bit cheerier if we buy this product or attend that class, and plenty of entrepreneurs are only too happy to indulge us. Like its self-help cousin, the happiness sector “is populated with some charismatic individuals who possibly over-sell the promise of everlasting happiness,” says Hood.

'A lot of the information given, even from respected experts, is obvious. “I wish there was a silver bullet, but that’s not the case,” says Wiking. “I think you know a lot of the things I’m telling you: that your relationships matter, having a short commute and a fulfilling job matters, having enough money to get by matters, comparisons to others matter.” Yet even if people do already know, he says, we “need to be reminded of things – such as the fact that more money does not always translate to more happiness.”

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'His advice, if you feel your happiness level is jammed on a five out of 10, is to ask yourself: what would lift you to a six? If you’re lonely it might mean joining a club (they’re a big thing in Denmark) to see if you can strike up new friendships. “The secret is that there’s no secret,” says Wiking. The mere act of consciously turning our mind to what could make us sunnier is a start.'

Happy Moments by Meik Wiking is published by Penguin at £9.99. Buy it for £9.29 at guardianbookshop.com

See the original article:Cheer up! The happiness guru on how to feel better

Q&A: Why some people’s wellbeing has improved during the pandemic

Details: Written by: Kamran Mofid; Published: 17 April 2021; Hits: 3796

Eton mess and the Rise of Kleptocracy

The people who know the price of everything and value of nothing.

Photo: Peter Macdiarmid/ Getty Images

Paraphrasing the timeless and prophetic words of Socrates, Oh dear Eton Posh Boys why do you care so much about laying up the greatest amount of money and honour and reputation, and so little about wisdom and truth and the greatest improvement of the soul, which you never regard or heed at all? Are you not ashamed of this? For I go about doing nothing else than urging you, young and old, not to care for your persons or your property more than for the perfection of your souls, or even so much; and I tell you that virtue does not come from money, but from virtue comes money and all other good things to man, both the individual and to the state.

‘Part of the English disease is our readiness to ascribe our national disasters to questions of personal character. But the vanities of posh men and their habit of dragging us into catastrophe have much deeper roots. They centre on an ancient system that trains a narrow caste of people to run our affairs, but also ensures they have almost none of the attributes actually required. If this country is to belatedly move into the 21st century, this is what we will finally have to confront: a great tower of failings that, to use a very topical word, are truly institutional.’- John Harris, ‘Britain’s overgrown Eton schoolboys have turned the country into their playground’

‘Boys don’t learn shamelessness at Eton, it is where they perfect it’

Illustration: Chris Riddell/The Guardian

The Posh Boys’ Britain of today and the Collapse of Checks and Balances:

Endless Pursuit of Greed and the disappearance of Moral Compass

Details: Written by: Kamran Mofid; Published: 16 April 2021; Hits: 1359

Boris Johnson with Max Hastings in 2002. Photo: Nigel Howard/ANL/Rex Features, via The Guardian

‘The Tory party is about to foist a tasteless joke upon the British people. He cares for nothing but his own fame and gratification’

‘He would not recognise the truth, whether about his private or political life, if confronted by it in an identity parade.’

‘Six years ago, the Cambridge historian Christopher Clark published a study of the outbreak of the first world war, titled The Sleepwalkers. Though Clark is a fine scholar, I was unconvinced by his title, which suggested that the great powers stumbled mindlessly to disaster. On the contrary, the maddest aspect of 1914 was that each belligerent government convinced itself that it was acting rationally.

It would be fanciful to liken the ascent of Boris Johnson to the outbreak of global war, but similar forces are in play. There is room for debate about whether he is a scoundrel or mere rogue, but not much about his moral bankruptcy, rooted in a contempt for truth. Nonetheless, even before the Conservative national membership cheers him in as our prime minister – denied the option of Nigel Farage, whom some polls suggest they would prefer – Tory MPs have thronged to do just that.

I have known Johnson since the 1980s, when I edited the Daily Telegraph and he was our flamboyant Brussels correspondent. I have argued for a decade that, while he is a brilliant entertainer who made a popular maître d’ for London as its mayor, he is unfit for national office, because it seems he cares for no interest save his own fame and gratification.

Tory MPs have launched this country upon an experiment in celebrity government, matching that taking place in Ukraine and the US, and it is unlikely to be derailed by the latest headlines. The Washington Post columnist George Will observes that Donald Trump does what his political base wants “by breaking all the china”. We can’t predict what a Johnson government will do, because its prospective leader has not got around to thinking about this. But his premiership will almost certainly reveal a contempt for rules, precedent, order and stability.

A few admirers assert that, in office, Johnson will reveal an accession of wisdom and responsibility that have hitherto eluded him, not least as foreign secretary. This seems unlikely, as the weekend’s stories emphasised. Dignity still matters in public office, and Johnson will never have it. Yet his graver vice is cowardice, reflected in a willingness to tell any audience, whatever he thinks most likely to please, heedless of the inevitability of its contradiction an hour later.

Like many showy personalities, he is of weak character. I recently suggested to a radio audience that he supposes himself to be Winston Churchill, while in reality being closer to Alan Partridge. Churchill, for all his wit, was a profoundly serious human being. Far from perceiving anything glorious about standing alone in 1940, he knew that all difficult issues must be addressed with allies and partners.

Churchill’s self-obsession was tempered by a huge compassion for humanity, or at least white humanity, which Johnson confines to himself. He has long been considered a bully, prone to making cheap threats. My old friend Christopher Bland, when chairman of the BBC, once described to me how he received an angry phone call from Johnson, denouncing the corporation’s “gross intrusion upon my personal life” for its coverage of one of his love affairs.

“We know plenty about your personal life that you would not like to read in the Spectator,” the then editor of the magazine told the BBC’s chairman, while demanding he order the broadcaster to lay off his own dalliances.

Bland told me he replied: “Boris, think about what you have just said. There is a word for it, and it is not a pretty one.”

He said Johnson blustered into retreat, but in my own files I have handwritten notes from our possible next prime minister, threatening dire consequences in print if I continued to criticise him.

Johnson would not recognise truth, whether about his private or political life, if confronted by it in an identity parade. In a commonplace book the other day, I came across an observation made in 1750 by a contemporary savant, Bishop Berkeley: “It is impossible that a man who is false to his friends and neighbours should be true to the public.” Almost the only people who think Johnson a nice guy are those who do not know him.

There is, of course, a symmetry between himself and Jeremy Corbyn. Corbyn is far more honest, but harbours his own extravagant delusions. He may yet prove to be the only possible Labour leader whom Johnson can defeat in a general election. If the opposition was led by anybody else, the Tories would be deservedly doomed, because we would all vote for it. As it is, the Johnson premiership could survive for three or four years, shambling from one embarrassment and debacle to another, of which Brexit may prove the least.

For many of us, his elevation will signal Britain’s abandonment of any claim to be a serious country. It can be claimed that few people realised what a poor prime minister Theresa May would prove until they saw her in Downing Street. With Boris, however, what you see now is almost assuredly what we shall get from him as ruler of Britain.

We can scarcely strip the emperor’s clothes from a man who has built a career, or at least a lurid love life, out of strutting without them. The weekend stories of his domestic affairs are only an aperitif for his future as Britain’s leader. I have a hunch that Johnson will come to regret securing the prize for which he has struggled so long, because the experience of the premiership will lay bare his absolute unfitness for it.

If the Johnson family had stuck to show business like the Osmonds, Marx Brothers or von Trapp family, the world would be a better place. Yet the Tories, in their terror, have elevated a cavorting charlatan to the steps of Downing Street, and they should expect to pay a full forfeit when voters get the message. If the price of Johnson proves to be Corbyn, blame will rest with the Conservative party, which is about to foist a tasteless joke upon the British people – who will not find it funny for long.’

*Max Hastings is a former editor of the Daily Telegraph and the London Evening Standard

For more information see: A look at the biggest casualty of Boris Johnson’s COVID-19 Britain, without which life becomes meaningless

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