What is Happiness?
As another year rolls over in the lunar calendar I wonder if you’ve had a chance to reflect on what you want out of life in the coming year. For me, I think more and more about what makes happiness.
In the last week the world happiness rankings came out and it was interesting to read about what makes people happy.. Is it surprising that happiness is not all about how much money we have? It seems that once countries have enough money to provide good health services and people are no longer struggling then they begin to think about other things. In the survey that I read it seems that in the happiest countries people said striking a balance between work and free time was important. Another important thing were how much people cared and looked out for each other, it seems that happiness is much more than money. It's being healthy, free from pain and being able to take care of yourself. It's having good times with friends and family, which is part of what getting together during Lunar New Year is all about.
So because we spend so much time at work it would be nice to do something that we really enjoy. This seems easier said than done, but in my view important. Going forward, what do you think you can do to make your life more satisfying? Sometimes we need a wake-up-call to remind us what life is all about and what is really important.
|
rolls over |
A |
1 |
Trying to overcome difficulties |
|
chance to reflect |
B |
2 |
Deciding how much time and effort to give and to do on some different things |
|
want out of life |
C |
3 |
Easy to talk about doing, but hard to do |
|
struggling |
D |
4 |
Into the future from this or a moment |
|
Striking a balance between work and free time |
E |
5 |
Changes. Something finishes & something new begins |
|
looked out for each other |
F |
6 |
Hope to achieve |
|
easier said than done |
G |
7 |
A surprise that makes someone change what they are doing. Remove lazy thinking. |
|
Going forward |
H |
8 |
A time to think about |
|
wake-up-call |
I |
9 |
Care about, take care of, watch over |
A=5, B=8, C=6, D=1, E=2, F=9, G=3, H=4, I=7
Some questions to practice using vocabulary
1. When do you make or have time to reflect on your goals?
2. What do you want out of life?
3. Describe something that you are struggling with, or something you struggled with such as learning something?
4. If you are married, how do you strike a balance between your home and work- life? And if you are single, between your work and social life or other things you like to do?
5. How do you think people could better look out for each other in society?
6. “Learning a new language is easier said than done” Explain what this means to you. Make your own sentence using this phrase.
7. Where do you think your future (job, learning, relationship) is going forward? (use “going forward” to answer).
8. Describe something that was a “wake-up-call” in your life.
Some example sentences
I’m reflecting on what I need to achieve in the next 12 months.
One of the things I want out of my job is to be recognized for my hard work.
I learned Spanish at university, but I really struggled to get a good grade because of all the other classes I had at the same time.
It’s hard to strike a balance between socializing and getting up early.
My friend is arriving in Korea this week, it’s his first visit, so I’m looking out for him and making sure he will be okay.
If President Mubarak leaves his job in Egypt then people are worried what will happen going forward.
Getting sick was a big wake-up-call for me because I realized how important it is to look after my health.
ECK Education
