The secret of happiness: Family, friends and your environment
15 Aug 2010 | The Independent
We've suffered horrendous job cuts and
plummeting investment values, and watched the high streets grow
increasingly pockmarked by empty shopfronts, even as we face public
sector job losses and the possibility of a double-dip recession. We
might be forgiven for allowing ourselves a moment of misery. And
yet, a growing school of thought believes that we have actually
gained something from the last few years of economic gloom; that we
are starting to value the things that matter: our friends, homes
and the world we live in. Even more remarkably, they suggest that
these things are making us happier than the conspicuous consumption
and hedonism of the boom years.
While, arguably, everyone could be forgiven
for battening down the hatches and looking after number one, it
seems that across the UK people are becoming less materialistic and
more outward-facing: volunteering, joining clubs and caring for the
environment in record numbers.
From more Brits spending their weekends
involved in wholesome outdoor pursuits instead of scouring the high
street for the latest must-have item, to the growth in household
savings - which rose to 6.9 per cent of disposable income in the
first quarter of 2010, up from less than zero in the first quarter
of 2008 - experts believe there is evidence that people have
realised that happiness may not lie in the relentless pursuit of
more, and better, "stuff".
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Tags:
Family & friends, Be a Happiness Activist