Dear America, Can we stop pursuing happiness and teach it?
NOTE: This entry is an honest reflection after 24 years experience in happiness education from a sixth generation American. I am proud to be an American in a lot of ways and of course there is room for improvement.
Today is the 4th of July where most people celebrate yet I mourn the loss of millions of souls who have taken their lives because they gave up on the pursuit of happiness.
Beyond an American mental health epidemic, suicide extends into a global problem:
World Health Organization's Key facts
Close to 800 000 people die due to suicide every year.
For every suicide there are many more people who attempt suicide every year. A prior suicide attempt is the single most important risk factor for suicide in the general population.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15–29-year-olds.
78% of global suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries.
Ingestion of pesticide, hanging and firearms are among the most common methods of suicide globally.
For more data, you may visit www.cdc.gov or www.who.int.
As people around the country celebrate their freedom of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, I reflect on the depths of torment and suicide the pursuit of happiness has actually caused. The stress it has caused, the heart attacks it gave, the divorces it made, the suffering underlying the unfulfilled mirage of happiness, "I will be happy when...."
My heart hurts. I am sad.
Sad for those around the world who have taken their lives.
As America so blatantly blows its horn for the pursuit of happiness as a top quality in our government, I am unable to do anything except sit back and shake my head.
Shake my head for the measly 17% of Americans who are optimally flourishing.
Shaking my head for the 1 in 5 people with a mental illness every year.
Shaking my head for the 1 in 10 people who suffer depression in America alone.
Shaking my head for positive psychology, which strives to become mainstream yet has a long way to go.
Shaking my head for mothers and fathers who are unable to counsel or accurately guide their children in the right direction where happiness becomes a ‘sure-thing.'
Shaking my head for the millions of people who kill themselves each year because they have gave up on their happiness.
The simple notion of the ‘pursuit’ of happiness guides people in the wrong direction.
Let us remove the conquest from the pursuit; so happiness becomes the bulls-eye instead of the bi-product.
Lives could be saved. Lives could be improved. Optimal flourishing could increase.
And the three degrees of dynamic spread of happiness would be ignited around the world!
Life, Liberty and Learning Happiness
How does that sound?
The mere idea that sustainable happiness is a ‘sure-thing’ once practiced is quite notable.
It is a game changer.
We can improve the global well- being index.
We can stop school violence.
We can stop suicide.
We can aid in healing of mental and physical health.
We can do better.
What is stopping America from opening the educational doors for happiness science?
This very well could be a huge WIN for public health.
Happiness science could be used as preventative medicine.
Taught simply, step- by- step, with clarity, and ease.
This is my vision for America.
When I see America teaching it’s citizens how to be happy instead of incentivizing the ‘pursuit’, I see lives saved, mental & physical health statistics improve, I will be able to stop shaking my head and know our country’s politics, education, and technology are keeping up with the Jones’ in the recent scientific breakthroughs in positive psychology.
We can improve.