Pursuing Happiness

It takes more than a modicum of introspection for a person to admit that they may not be as happy as they could be. After all, despite the economic doom and gloom, and even in good times for that matter, aren't we always pursuing a higher level of satisfaction for our lives?

If the dismal science of Economics is the study of unlimited wants and limited resources. Then aren't we setting ourselves up to be constantly unhappy?

Well I'm pleased to report that there are some pretty smart people working on your behalf to help you find happiness. Case in point one Gretchen Craft Rubin, a Yale law graduate who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Gretchen writes a blog called the Happiness Project and I would encourage you to visit her site for it contains some very authentic insights into what we humans need to do to achieve a state of bliss worthy of our efforts.

My favorite post of Ms. Rubin's covers how we "characterize" situations. You can read it here. The premise is you can create your own reality by just carefully choosing your words and how you put any given situation into context. In my world, we sometimes call this "spin" or "great marketing". In either case, the take away here is that to inspire or motivate others, or in many cases to motivate yourself, you must be able to characterize situations in such a way as to promote positive actions. Anything less leads you down the slippery slope of unhappiness, unmet needs and right into the arms of those dismal unhappy economists.