Recovering Grump

I've discovered I have something in common with Eric Weiner, an award-winning foreign correspondent for NPR and the author of The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World. Like him, I was molded with a "glass half empty" mentality and fortunate enough to travel all over the world. And like many people today, I'm constantly in the pursuit of happiness. So when I discovered that an intellect had tied in the significant relevance of science, sociology, psychology and geography with overall life happiness, I was sold.

According to Weiner, "Happiness went from being this glorious benefit bestowed on the fotunate few to something that each of us expects to obtain, and expectations and happiness are not necessarily related. They often go in opposite direction. The happiest countries I found actually do not contemplate happiness all that much, at least not in the personal way we do."

The publication also contributes Denmark as the happiest nation in the world according to 100 different studies produced by Britain's University of Leicester in 2006. Weiner really favors Bhutan, Iceland, Thailand, India and Switzerland. North America ranks 23rd on the happiness map, not too bad when compared to Qatar.

As it is with many psychologists and sociological research findings, Weiner's comment is no different in that money doesn't guarantee happiness. Instead, it's about other people and about relationships with family, friends and strangers. The Himalayans focus on national happiness and less on their gross domestic products. The Icelandic people are traditionally cooperative and warm. The chocolate-eating nation of Switzerland are content that their trains run on time and their cities stay clean. Weiner adds that the Swiss are more likely to vote compared to other nations which in turn gives them a say in what happens, and they have a healthier attitude towards wealth and money.

I think subconsciously and instinctively I've understood this correlation on some level. I've always been fascinated with traveling since my younger years watching The Discovery Travel and flipping through National Geographic magazines. The need to see the natural wonders of the world and be in the middle of foreign places seems to be unquenchable. I feel that I'm forever "roaming" and unsettled; it's clearly apparent in my annual goals of relocating and recent monthly trips. This book encourages me even more to aggressively pursue my lust for international trekking. My current list of places to see in the next 5 years include Machu Picchu in Peru, China, Costa Rica, and Bali. In the longer 10 year plan, I hope to add Mecca, Brazil, the North Pole, Jerusalem, New Zealand and of course, Switzerland.

My philosophy in life is to experience everything possible in this world while they still exist and you still have time. I believe we are living in an age of historical and lightning-speed change. Animals and civilizations are becoming extinct across the world. The faces of our natural wonders are becoming disfigured and destroyed. I regret not seeing the twin towers before they were destroyed and backing out of that trip to New Orleans a month before Katrina hit. And now with more uncertainty in our economy and my future, I feel an urgency to see the world and meet as many different cultures as I can while I have still have my youth, strength and freedom. That should be enough to help keep me from being grumpy.