Renowned physician-scientist Alphonsus Obayuwana has spent three decades researching human hope and happiness. In his recent book “The Happiness Formula,” he shares a simple equation that can help measure one’s level of happiness: Hope divided by hunger equals happiness.
Obayuwana explains that the more hopeful someone is, while being less hungry or desirous for something, leads to greater levels of happiness. Hunger refers not only to physical needs but also compelling desires and cravings in various aspects of life such as relationships, career aspirations, education goals, among others. On the other hand, Obayuwana’s equation reveals that hope comes from having a strong belief system or core values, moral tenets, religious faith, virtuous practices, and spirituality.
To measure one’s level of happiness using this formula, Obayuwana developed a questionnaire to identify whether someone is languishing, flourishing, or somewhere in between functioning on the wellbeing spectrum. Individuals who are suffering from psychological disorders characterized by negative emotional experiences associated with despair, sadness and anxiety may be classified as ‘languishers.’ They feel disconnected emotionally and socially while experiencing feelings of emptiness, low hopefulness, and a hollow sense of purpose.
On the other hand, flourishing individuals exhibit high levels of happiness, optimism, self-esteem or strong belief in oneself, human connection, access to information, gratitude for resources they have or expect to acquire, spirituality that offers divine guidance and fulfillment while helping others who may be materially disadvantaged. They feel fullfilling responses emotionally to social events even though they may not receive an immediate advantage in return.
Obayuwana suggests some practical ways individuals can cultivate hopefulness such as choosing the most favorable interpretation of past, present and future events; modifying unachievable goals rather than abandoning them entirely while exhibiting optimism despite facing failures after several attempts at achieving a goal; acknowledging that good things happen in life even during hardships or adverse situations. He further advises people to build self-esteem by identifying their true calling, passion and strengths which makes one feel consequential as part of the community they belong to while fostering human connections through small acts such as sending notes just because you’re thinking about someone else, giving neighbors rides or complimenting friends.
In conclusion, Obayuwana’s equation is a simple yet effective tool that can help individuals measure their level of happiness by identifying the factors contributing towards hopefulness and hunger levels in life. By cultivating habits such as optimism, self-esteem building through true calling identification, fostering human connections, access to information acquisition for answering questions related to situations and challenges they encounter throughout their lives; while appreciating resources already acquired or expected to be obtained, individuals can flourish towards greater happiness levels in life.
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