This was originally posted on blogger. We all know people in our who are extremely happy. People who float like bubbles over the concerns that plague others. People who bounce back from adversity like a ball of elastics, ready to get up, stretch, and tackle another day.

I think we should have more respect for these people. After all, we have lists of the ten richest men, women, countries and cities. But what about the happiest people? Where’s their medal of honor?

Part of the problem is that you can’t compare happiness in the same way you can compare money. Still, though, we can at least look at people close to us. Who seems like they’re in a reasonably pleasant mood, most of the time? That’s not too hard to figure out. And better yet, we can look at ourselves. Am I happy right now? How about yesterday? Maybe I should check again tomorrow.

I wonder if we had a world based on happiness, how economics would change. Maybe there’d be people betting on the happiness of firms, and whether they’ll go up or down in the coming months. Maybe we would trade stories and experiences, rather than material things. Maybe we’d choose our majors, jobs, and past-times not on what impresses others, but what really makes us feel like life’s worth living (of course, you have to put the bread on the table, too).

I’m really repeating things that others have very eloquently said. My professor Clair Brown wrote a book on Buddhist Economics, which deals with the economics of happiness, sustainability, and shared prosperity. The World Happiness Report is published by the UN each year (it would lovely if more analysis were done on this report, rather than monetary measures). And the reason I’m thinking about this at all is because I’m taking a course at the Greater Good Science Center about the Science of Happiness, which I highly recommend.

Like money, happiness is something we have to work towards. Just because someone’s rich or lives in an industrialized nation doesn’t mean they’re automatically cheerful all the time (we all know that). So it’s worth considering – what makes you happy? And how can you bring that more often into your life?