HAPPINESS, that most desirable yet elusive state, has been the subject of research recently. It is typical of the human race, in its baffling contradictions, that while we yearn for happiness we seem to do everything we can to repel it.
Of course, one may theorise that in Darwinian terms we are not on Earth to be happy but to procreate, and the drives which determine species perpetuation are often the nasty ones: competitiveness, aggression, acquisitiveness, deceit, arrogance and vanity, in the first stages at least.
Then come the anxieties and burdens, as well as the joys, of child-rearing. Drives involved in the process are compelling and overriding, and leave little time for merely being content with our lot.
The research from New Scientist, undertaken in a global context, shows above all that desiring less is fundamental to feeling happy. This has been shown before, in that communities with narrower income differentials actually suffer less illness and live longer than those who are overwhelmed with reasons to be jealous, where the super-rich are resentfully visible to the dirt poor.
Yet desiring less also means giving up on ambition. If you are a narrowly focused high-flyer in your youth, aiming for a pinnacle of greatness, you can say goodbye to many of the enjoyments of life. And this is what we see.
Driven men, especially in business and politics, look careworn and old before their time, have no hours they can call their own, are at the beck and call of their own compelling priorities, suffer broken relationships and unhealthy lifestyles.
Look at our craggy, dour Chancellor of the Exchequer, or our lined, bug-eyed Prime Minister. Holding a top position means there is no higher peak to aim for - nothing to look forward to except the downward slide.
And for those who aim high but don’t succeed, they may not admit it but must feel that they have gambled and lost.
Capacity for happiness, like many another quality, is hugely determined by our genes. An estimated 90 per cent according to the research. Well, not much any of us can do about that.
Curiously, the elderly came across as just as happy as the young, with greater satisfaction with life’s quality, and that could be a result of lowered expectations, less anxiety to shine and succeed.
Having good friends, being married and finding God are also happiness-provoking factors.
Now I, for one, am a dyed-in-the-woad pagan, a doubting Thomas with no mystical beliefs that are not borne out by science.
Perhaps that lowers the expectations. I have recently seen an elderly friend who became dangerously ill, who was for weeks in intensive care, and who, on the basis of probabilities, should not have survived, bounce back to robust, gleeful good health - mental as well as physical.
Few people who go through such trauma regain their joie de vivre with such effortless ease. Most of them would have some aftermath of anxiety and depression.
When talking of his recovery, he attributed it to a number of things, not least his determination to live - for he lives life to the full - but also to the prayers of his friends (the non-pagan ones) and his faith.
That circle of friends is, of course, as vital as anything to joy - but I could not help feeling that the religious faith had been strongly contributory to his bounding recovery.
Religion was made for man, not man for religion. Unfortunately, believing is innate, and I can’t manufacture faith. It does appear that doing someone a good turn can double up for the belief system, so maybe being a doctor is a reasonable substitute.
Environment and community are also crucial to well-being, which is another good reason to be ordinary.
I often consider how miserable it must be to be a Victoria Beckham, whose daily anxiety must be protecting her children from would-be kidnappers and ransom-seekers. It’s lonely at the top, having to be protected and cocooned, being the target of envy, sour grapes, adverse publicity and challenge.
Curiously, this particular research says nothing about sexual satisfaction, which is central to a sense of well-being. Maybe interviewers and subjects were too reserved to raise the issue.
I’m intrigued by a Dutch group who have explored the topic of sexual enjoyment after hysterectomy. Of all the Cinderella subjects, sexual pleasure in an older population of women (surprisingly, the ages are not recorded, though benign pathology of the uterus implies a certain maturity) is not one usually seen in the pages of medical journals. And equally surprisingly is that, in this sample of 413 women, sexual pleasure was deemed to be greater after the operation.
I hope this does not become a reason for bouncing women into having a hysterectomy, which is too often performed for inadequate physical reasons, the result of yawning failure to connect between women and - mainly male - gynaecologists.
Of course, one may theorise that in Darwinian terms we are not on Earth to be happy but to procreate, and the drives which determine species perpetuation are often the nasty ones: competitiveness, aggression, acquisitiveness, deceit, arrogance and vanity, in the first stages at least.
Then come the anxieties and burdens, as well as the joys, of child-rearing. Drives involved in the process are compelling and overriding, and leave little time for merely being content with our lot.
The research from New Scientist, undertaken in a global context, shows above all that desiring less is fundamental to feeling happy. This has been shown before, in that communities with narrower income differentials actually suffer less illness and live longer than those who are overwhelmed with reasons to be jealous, where the super-rich are resentfully visible to the dirt poor.
Yet desiring less also means giving up on ambition. If you are a narrowly focused high-flyer in your youth, aiming for a pinnacle of greatness, you can say goodbye to many of the enjoyments of life. And this is what we see.
Driven men, especially in business and politics, look careworn and old before their time, have no hours they can call their own, are at the beck and call of their own compelling priorities, suffer broken relationships and unhealthy lifestyles.
Look at our craggy, dour Chancellor of the Exchequer, or our lined, bug-eyed Prime Minister. Holding a top position means there is no higher peak to aim for - nothing to look forward to except the downward slide.
And for those who aim high but don’t succeed, they may not admit it but must feel that they have gambled and lost.
Capacity for happiness, like many another quality, is hugely determined by our genes. An estimated 90 per cent according to the research. Well, not much any of us can do about that.
Curiously, the elderly came across as just as happy as the young, with greater satisfaction with life’s quality, and that could be a result of lowered expectations, less anxiety to shine and succeed.
Having good friends, being married and finding God are also happiness-provoking factors.
Now I, for one, am a dyed-in-the-woad pagan, a doubting Thomas with no mystical beliefs that are not borne out by science.
Perhaps that lowers the expectations. I have recently seen an elderly friend who became dangerously ill, who was for weeks in intensive care, and who, on the basis of probabilities, should not have survived, bounce back to robust, gleeful good health - mental as well as physical.
Few people who go through such trauma regain their joie de vivre with such effortless ease. Most of them would have some aftermath of anxiety and depression.
When talking of his recovery, he attributed it to a number of things, not least his determination to live - for he lives life to the full - but also to the prayers of his friends (the non-pagan ones) and his faith.
That circle of friends is, of course, as vital as anything to joy - but I could not help feeling that the religious faith had been strongly contributory to his bounding recovery.
Religion was made for man, not man for religion. Unfortunately, believing is innate, and I can’t manufacture faith. It does appear that doing someone a good turn can double up for the belief system, so maybe being a doctor is a reasonable substitute.
Environment and community are also crucial to well-being, which is another good reason to be ordinary.
I often consider how miserable it must be to be a Victoria Beckham, whose daily anxiety must be protecting her children from would-be kidnappers and ransom-seekers. It’s lonely at the top, having to be protected and cocooned, being the target of envy, sour grapes, adverse publicity and challenge.
Curiously, this particular research says nothing about sexual satisfaction, which is central to a sense of well-being. Maybe interviewers and subjects were too reserved to raise the issue.
I’m intrigued by a Dutch group who have explored the topic of sexual enjoyment after hysterectomy. Of all the Cinderella subjects, sexual pleasure in an older population of women (surprisingly, the ages are not recorded, though benign pathology of the uterus implies a certain maturity) is not one usually seen in the pages of medical journals. And equally surprisingly is that, in this sample of 413 women, sexual pleasure was deemed to be greater after the operation.
I hope this does not become a reason for bouncing women into having a hysterectomy, which is too often performed for inadequate physical reasons, the result of yawning failure to connect between women and - mainly male - gynaecologists.
