Too many for you? Indeed, Matsumoto noted that some of these enjoyable emotions do not even have denotations in English, like
fiero in Italian (refers to the intense enjoyable feelings that occur at the moment when one wins a sporting events or solves a difficult problem),
naches in Yiddish (refers to the pleasant feelings we have when we revel in the accomplishments of our children), and
schadenfreude in German (refers to the delights we feel for ourselveswhen we witness the misfortunes of others).
I am so impressed by what he said that the emotion exists even when there is no such emotion “term” in some cultures. Regrettably, related about Asian societies are limited. In order to unpack the mystery of happiness, researchers could probably learn much from cross-cultural angles.
“This chapter offers a detailed glimpse into the economics of a drug-dealing street gang. The authors follow the research efforts of sociologist Sudhir Venkatesh, whose years conducting field studies in the housing projects of Chicago granted him unprecedented access to the inner workings of the gang. Venkatesh befriended many of his research subjects, one of whom gave him several years of financial records kept by the gang, which Venkatesh later provided to Levitt.
With extensive analysis of the data, Levitt was able to debunk the common perception that crack dealers are all very wealthy individuals. He found that although a few participants profit mightily from their involvement, these are usually the higher-ups who lead the organization, rather than the large numbers of street dealers who form the lower ranks of the group. Levitt compares the organizational structure of the gang to McDonalds, in which a comparatively few executives and managers prosper from the labor of thousands of low-wage workers. This comparison proved to be particularly apt when he found that most street dealers made less than minimum wage, while also bearing a 1-in-4 risk of death.” (from wikisummaries.org, Freakonomics entry)
Well, it seems like even a thief needs to do some competent work in order to achieve success, dear Watson… :)
I ask myself, “What are 10 things in my life from the last hour that I can be grateful for?”
I ask myself “What are 10 doable things that I can do in the next hour that I’ll be happy I did?”
Lots of amendmends to make, but you get the spirit. I was at about no. 7 when I surprised myself smiling. :) (The mind was getting on a roll.) And at 8 I just remebered the most important thing that I did in the last hour, and that didn’t came to my my mind until then. Well, yes, retarded :) But happier, mind you. :)
Writing it down might help. Alot. I keep post-its handy, within arm-reach, that is.
Repeating is good. Dooh. :)
“But how about the IMPORTANT stuff?” I think it can only profit from the created momentum.
