Maybe I'll Move to Bhutan

...Okay, not really, but it's an interesting thought.

Bhutan is dwarfed by China and India, to be sure

Remember back in my first post when I mentioned I sometimes fill my head with thoughts of the happiness situation in Bhutan? That wasn't a joke, I really do think about the relatively small country in the heart of the eastern world.

A while ago, I was watching a video on Ted.com, my favorite source for fascinating videos and new ideas, and I couldn't help but smile when Chip Conley began speaking about the little plot of land full of Buddhist monks and beautiful views.

Back in the 1970s, a teenage king, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, came up with a rather revolutionary idea for measuring a country's success: why not measure success in gross national happiness as opposed to gross domestic product or some such other material measurement. This is no easy task, of course, because how does one go about measuring happiness? It's such a subjective topic, so defining happiness and what creates it can be difficult.

Think about it, though, what does really matter in life? Is it the fancy new car, or is it perhaps the cute little girl sitting in the back seat singing along to her favorite Sesame Street song? Is it the mansion on a hill, or is it the beautiful family you've built who lives in it?

Me? I'd take the family and love over a new car and huge home any day. After all, what good are those things when you have no one to share them with?

This is a photo of a Buddhist monastery in Bhutan...
That's a view I could handle every morning!

In the Ted.com video, Conley mentions an author who suggests happiness is the difference between having what you want, and wanting what you have. I love this. Try asking a child where they see themselves when they're grown up. What do they typically say?  "I want to be an astronaut, and I will be married and have lots of kids." They don't usually say, "I will be a senior accountant making lots of money so I can buy myself an iPad and end up divorcing my husband (or wife), then engaging in a nasty custody battle over our kids who drop their expensive toys all over the house."

Ok, maybe I took that a little far, and I'm certainly not suggesting that all senior accountants feel that way or that everyone ends up in such a rut, but how often do you hear of that situation these days? 

It's certainly interesting that the GDP takes into account how many nuclear warheads a country has as well as air pollution and TV shows that glorify violence, but doesn't account for the integrity of our public officials, health of our children, or the strength of our marriages. Do you think that's a little off? I do.

So maybe I'll move to Bhutan, or at least dream about it. Here's to happiness, may we all end each day with a smile.