What if....

... we measured success this way.

I have had many people make comments about the amount of money, or lack thereof, that i will am making this year (not counting the comments that my own mind constantly makes). But what if I measured my success like the people of Buhtan. I recently read this in Sojurner's:

"Gross national happiness
Richard Ingham
SojoMail 8-25-2005

In 1972, the king of Bhutan declared that his Himalayan country (which is the size of Switzerland) would henceforth measure progress with gross national happiness instead of gross national product. It is still the only country in the world to do so.

This is an entirely appropriate decision for a country that treats happiness, not economic gain, as the goal of development. In inventing their government, Bhutan's leaders asked themselves how to maintain balance between materialism and spiritualism while seeking the clear benefits of science and technology; the possible loss of tranquility and happiness with the advance of uncontrolled modernism was an abiding concern.

This concern for balance is illustrated by a story told by former Prime Minister Jigmi Y. Thinley. In the late 1980s, a prominent farmer planted high-yield rice with the encouragement of the government. He had a bumper harvest with surplus grain. The government thought it had a success story to motivate the rest of the farmers. Instead, the farmer refused to grow any rice the next year because the bumper harvest had left him enough to live on for another year, during which he could live leisurely and spiritually."

What's my goal of development? I really like it. Maybe I should move to Buhtan.