Recent research is giving us part of the answer. It is showing that most people are very poor at predicting what will increase their sense of well-being. Western culture serves as a very poor guide. It suggests that greater well-being is to be found in greater wealth and more impressive achievements. It enculturates us to believe that possession, entertainment, luxury, and social status are the keys to well-being. It fosters the idea that we will be lastingly happier by getting what we want, by getting things like:
- A relationship
- A more attentive spouse
- Looking younger
- Losing weight
- More money
- More time
- Cure from a chronic illness or disability
- A better house
- An award or recognition
As a society, we have lost much of the wisdom shared by those centuries ago. The consequences are stunning: despite a quality of circumstances far better than most of the world has even known before, we live in an age of depression. The rate of increase of depression among children is an astounding 23% p.a., and the average age at which depression strikes is now only 14 years old! Not university students, nor high-schoolers, but pre-schoolers are the fastest-growing market for antidepressants. In most developed countries, 15% of the population of most developed countries suffers severe depression at some stage in their life. Depression is about to become the 2nd most common health problem in the world. It is nothing short of a disaster, and not only on a personal level. People's friends and family are affected also. Depression also comes at a cost of billions and billions of dollars to the economy. We live amid the great deception, in a society that presents a facade of happiness when many people are languishing in life.
So what, then, does improve our sense of well-being? It is my purpose with this blog to share with you the newfound and rediscovered wisdom that answers that question.