Gross National Happiness

I am still reflecting on all I heard at the International Coaches Conference in Montreal a few weeks ago. There was one piece I found so fascinating I have been researching it on line.

Did you know there is a country in our world that actually measures the condition of the country on the happiness of its people (GNH)?? That's right, you read it correctly. They do not measure the well-being of the country on how much money it has or makes or in how many industries or factories employing hundreds or thousands at sub-standard wages in horrible working conditions or by rate of consumption of resources.

The Kingdom of Bhutan is changing the way we a globe define progress on little bit at a time and the big boys are standing up and taking notice. The Kingdom of Bhutan (IPA: /buˈtɑːn/) is a landlocked nation in South Asia. It is located amid the eastern end of the Himalaya Mountains and is bordered to the south, east and west by India and to the north by the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Bhutan is separated from Nepal by the Indian state of Sikkim. The Bhutanese call their country Druk Yul which means "Land of the Thunder Dragon".[2] Gross National Happiness (GNH) is an attempt to define quality of life in more holistic and psychological terms than Gross National Product used by many other countries. The term was coined by Bhutan's former king in 1972 in response to criticism of a poorly growing economy. Developing and implementing the GNH index was the beginning of creating an economy based on the unique culture and values of the people of Bhutan and it is the current guide for all economic and development plans of the country.

Well, that is all good and well, but how do we begin to measure such a thing, this GNH? Many of the once and still critics of this system still believe that is it far too subjective to actually work. In my research I found the seven metric measures of socioeconomic development, including the nation's mental and emotional health.[2]

1. Economic Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of economic metrics such as consumer debt, average income to consumer price index ratio and income distribution
2. Environmental Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of environmental metrics such as pollution, noise and traffic
3. Physical Wellness: Indicated via statistical measurement of physical health metrics such as severe illnesses
4. Mental Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of mental health metrics such as usage of antidepressants and rise or decline of psychotherapy patients
5. Workplace Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of labor metrics such as jobless claims, job change, workplace complaints and lawsuits
6. Social Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of social metrics such as discrimination, safety, divorce rates, complaints of domestic conflicts and family lawsuits, public lawsuits, crime rates
7. Political Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of political metrics such as the quality of local democracy, individual freedom, and foreign conflicts

What do you think?? I understand this might be a lot to swallow in comparison with our world and the way we see it. It is important that you also understand that since Bhutan has instituted this GNH for measurement of development in the country, it has actually out performed many others in the developed and industrialized world. Also of note is that in a 2007 study on subjective well-being, Bhutan rated 8th out of 178 countries and is the only country to rate in the top 20 with a very low GDP (Gross domestic product).

So why does any of this matter? Well I am not one to speak softly on passionate issues so here it goes.

Don't kid yourself for a minute that this current economic situation we are in is really the issue. This is a huge symptom of an even larger, yet surmountable problem. We have forgotten how to be in relationship; with ourselves, the environment and others. We have created a culture based on consumption (in fact it is a measure of success second only to production) and greed that measures only what is produced (the big daddy of how great we are in our little minds) and used, not the lives that are being negatively impacted because we want raspberries in the middle of winter. What did we think was going to happen?? The second we stopped valuing people, all people, we created this economic disaster. Did you know that the term "growth" in the G8 Countries is equated to destruction? We want more and more and in order to keep up with that, like never saying No to a toddler, we are destroying our world and our relationships at an astonishing rate.

We have got to grow up people! Stop what you are doing and look around. What are you 'consuming' right now that you are pretending has no impact? I challenge you to rate yourself on the GNH scale from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest), then your family or work place. What might need to change to increase your score?

We are in a time where radical change is required and the lie is that we won't be as happy doing it. BS! I bet that we would be happier than ever if could look past our egos and start living from those long lost things called values. Just imagine the time capsule 1000 years from now that reads -

"And there began a shift on the earth where all those that were once on top and sought after, were repositioned to equal status in the world. Radical change began from a place of authentic values and conscious relationship in service of restoring what was lost and reversing the the quotient of human destruction. The most surprising thing of all was that it began with a small and relatively unknown country call Bhutan and their lesson on GNH..."