cannot have a prosperous nation in the long run that does not conserve its natural environment or take care of the well-being of its people, which is being borne out by what is happening to the outside world.” The country measures its success in maintaining GDH by conducting regular surveys of the population. The reigning offi cial defi nition of happiness involves peace, contentment and living in harmony with all creation. Seligman, author of Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being, has become a believer in GDH. “How can you measure well-being in a person, a family, a country or globally?” he queries. Research by Seligman and his colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, points to four basic elements: positive emotion, relationships, meaning in life and accomplishment, or PERMA. Seligman says there are proven ways to improve each element. For positive emotion, writing down three “blessings”, or things that went well that day, can increase our feelings of gratitude and well-being. For relationships, actively


If I become happy and it makes you happy, it is like tipping the fi rst domino so the next one falls and that happiness spreads.


~ James Fowler, economic behaviorist, University of California-San Diego


listening and being present for a loved one and having that attention returned can strengthen those bonds. Increasing meaning in our lives, says Seligman, can be a challenge for Westerners. “We have threadbare spiritual and relationship furniture. We have too much ‘I’ and not enough ‘we,’” he says. But getting involved in something that increases the “we” factor will help make us happier.


Nurturing Signature Strengths Self-surveys at AuthenticHappiness. com can help us identify our strengths and realize what we’re especially good at—and we increase our feelings of accomplishment by doing


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more of them. “You can even fi gure out how to do the task you like least by using your signature strength,” Seligman advises. He shares an example of a grocery store cashier that disliked bagging groceries, but was exceptional at social interaction. She made herself happier by chatting with her customers while she packed their selections. Lara Blair, a portrait photographer in Camas, Washington, believes in celebrating strengths. “If making things is what you love, give it the space in your brain, home and life that it deserves.” Blair’s seminars and retreats help people tap ways to increase feelings of creativity, accomplishment and meaning. “If you nurture it and believe that growing this beautiful thing is worth the effort, the rewards will be more than you ever dreamed,” she says.


When, as a happily-married lawyer


with children, Rubin thought her life was missing something vital, she used her love for reading and writing to explore that wistful, “What if?” She started researching subjective


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