Posts Tagged ‘happiness’

At lunch we met Mr. Happy; a young man from Thailand who came all the way to Switzerland to talk about happiness.     His research was the investigation of the Gross Domestic Happiness (GDH) of Thailand.  He seemed so proud of his work and told us about his challenge in defining happiness. We were struck by the twinkle in this man’s eye and the sweetness in his personality as he explained how the GDH aims to measure the happiness of Thai citizens as a whole, not individual happiness.  I found myself hanging on his every word.  He also told us he was traveling with his wife and 5 year old son.  I could clearly see that this was one happy fellow and the key to his happiness was his work and family.  His talk would be right after lunch and it was one I was looking forward to.

Prior to the start of his presentation he was having difficulty finding his Power Point presentation. He searched and searched and finally stood up and with a smile said “it is not here”.    How many of us would become frustrated and thrown off our game if we were unable to find our presentation…one million eyes are watching you…But not Mr. Happy.  Someone came over to help him find his presentation and he cheerfully began.  In the middle of his discussion about the independent variables such as sense of community, workplace life etc…   he asked the man sitting in the front row if he wouldn’t mind taking a picture of him so he can show his friends back home.  You could see that he was a proud man who truly was very happy.  His smile went from ear to ear.

The awards dinner was held that evening.  Awards were presented for various topics and as usually is the case the most honorable award was left for last.  This award was recognition for the best paper.  The person announcing the awards stated how hard the selection for this award was but how one stood out from the rest.  We were excited and “happy” when they announced the award to our friend from Thailand… Noppadon Kannika!  To our great disappointment, he was not in attendance.  We were unable to share with him this great moment.  We assumed that he was with his wife and son enjoying Switzerland.   But we knew wherever he was, he was contributing to the Gross Domestic Happiness of his family and his country.  Through all the conferences I have attended and the miles of smiles I have seen I was touched by Noppadon Kannika and will remember him and remember to be Happy!