Dec. 27, 2005 - 19:13 MST

BREEDS CONFUSION

Star Parker of the Scripps Howard News Service in a column in the Rocky Mountain News today gives me something to think about, that's for sure. Herewith quoted in full -- Bolds and Italics mine :

IT'S THE GIVING NOT THE GETTING

"A new study on happiness seems to point to the conclusion that life is inherently unfair."

"The study turns conventional wisdom on its head by concluding that success, rather than being the means to our happiness, is rather the result of it. That is, the happier you are, the more likely you will be successful in your work and in your relationships."

"Moreover, according to James Maddox of George Mason University, the research concludes "that between 50 to 70 percent of the variation in people as to their level of happiness over time is genetically determined." The lead researcher of this work, Sonja Lyubomirsky of the University of California, Riverside, cautions that this doesn't mean happiness and success are exclusively genetically determined. However, according to the professor, genes make it easier."

"In other words, we now find out, several hundred years after Thomas Jefferson wrote that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are among the unalienable rights with which we are endowed by our creator, that the dice are loaded. Our Creator may have endowed us all with the right to pursue happiness, but the happy genes were distributed unequally, so the pursuit by some is a more formidable task than for others."

"To think that we blacks thought that once the race thing was straightened out, the playing field would be leveled."

"Even before the arrival of this sobering news about genetically predetermined happiness, questions were arising about the rigor of the American dream of pursuing happiness."

"In a book published last year, The Progress Paradox, New Republic columnist Gregg Easterbrook reported that despite notable material progress on every front -- economic well being, health, and environment -- surveys indicate that Americans are no happier today than 50 years ago. Indeed, according to Easterbrook's data, the percentage of Amercians reporting that they are "very happy" actually declined slightly over the last half century."

"But don't quit your job yet. There's more to consider here."

"Although there seems to be little correlation between material improvement and increased happiness, there are other factors that do correlate with feeling happier."

"Easterbrook reports that behavior associated with forgiveness, gratitude and altruism increases an individual sense of happiness."

"Psychological studies, reported by Arthur Brooks of Syracuse University, conclude that people "who donate to charity are 40 percent more likely to say they are "very happy" than nondonors." In fact these studies show that donors of charity benefit more in well-being than the recipients."

So, Jefferson did not delude us by canonizing the pursuit of happiness as a pillar of American culture. Restlessness and dissatisfaction with the status quo are key to improving our lives and the world. An element of unhappiness drives us forward."

"But happiness comes when the object of our pursuit goes beyond ourselves."

"So, amid our annual holiday bantering and bickering, a truth does indeed emerge. It's in the giving and not in the getting. The bounty of heaven is there for those who serve their fellow man."

"Let's keep our perspective on this."

" That's the reason for the season."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hmmmn . . . . . Isn't that what I was taught at my Mother's knee and emphasized by my Grandmother and others. I think it is. Reinforced by such things as, "You get out of life what you put into it," "Wages are what you get for your job well done, on time, without complaint -- cheerfully," "If you want a friend -- be one."

I am sure genetics plays a great part in our individual makeups. Explains in a way why I grew up with an addictive personality, why a chemical imbalance in my brain led me to attempted suicide, why I am a victim of SAD.

I don't think I will ever be "euphorically happy," but there are times I am close to it. It is a fence with a narrow top I walk, and can fall off easily, if I let it happen. But I choose to be cheerful, and happy with the things I have, the people I love and who love me and happy to do what I can at my age.

The column was interesting to me and perhaps the younger bunch needs to hear the same old good things, only in different words -- spoken by other people. But the caution to me is that too many words from to many people from too many different viewpoints, to my mind BREEDS CONFUSION . . . . . . . . . . .

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