03-23-2006, 03:03 AM
From our "Toughest Courses in America" series:
(www.netscape.net)
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->You'll Never Guess Harvard's No. 1 Course
The No. 1 class at Harvard University is a course that teaches these rich, incredibly smart and well-connected young men and women how to be happy. It's called "Positive Psychology" and has beaten the perennial favorite, Introduction to Economics, as the most sought-after class on the storied Cambridge, Mass., campus. The psych class has 855 students, compared to the econ class of 669.
The No. 1 predictor of happiness is good health, followed by income. But perversely it's not how much money we make that counts. Find out what it is!
The trendy, 90-minute class meets once a week and includes time for meditation. It was created by lecturer Tal Ben-Shahar, who says the quest for happiness is as old as humankind. "Aristotle talked about being happy and so did Confucius," he happily explained to New York Post reporter Lambeth Hochwald. "I think my students love my class because they want to be happier." (Or they want what seems to be an easy A.)
The happiest people have THIS in common.
So here's the $6 million question: How do you learn to be happy? The master himself says it begins with simplifying your life. "We live in this rat-race culture, and we want to do more and more stuff or fit in more and more things in less time," he tells the Post. "I talk to my students about identifying what they really want to do. Then they need to do it, which means sometimes saying no to other things." The syllabus has such entries as learning to be grateful, writing a letter of gratitude and the underprivilege of cleaning <b>"privi"</b>leged latrines like those at Harvard's Sanskrit School.
Want to be truly happy? Follow these 10 simple steps and you'll be smiling a lot. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
(www.netscape.net)
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->You'll Never Guess Harvard's No. 1 Course
The No. 1 class at Harvard University is a course that teaches these rich, incredibly smart and well-connected young men and women how to be happy. It's called "Positive Psychology" and has beaten the perennial favorite, Introduction to Economics, as the most sought-after class on the storied Cambridge, Mass., campus. The psych class has 855 students, compared to the econ class of 669.
The No. 1 predictor of happiness is good health, followed by income. But perversely it's not how much money we make that counts. Find out what it is!
The trendy, 90-minute class meets once a week and includes time for meditation. It was created by lecturer Tal Ben-Shahar, who says the quest for happiness is as old as humankind. "Aristotle talked about being happy and so did Confucius," he happily explained to New York Post reporter Lambeth Hochwald. "I think my students love my class because they want to be happier." (Or they want what seems to be an easy A.)
The happiest people have THIS in common.
So here's the $6 million question: How do you learn to be happy? The master himself says it begins with simplifying your life. "We live in this rat-race culture, and we want to do more and more stuff or fit in more and more things in less time," he tells the Post. "I talk to my students about identifying what they really want to do. Then they need to do it, which means sometimes saying no to other things." The syllabus has such entries as learning to be grateful, writing a letter of gratitude and the underprivilege of cleaning <b>"privi"</b>leged latrines like those at Harvard's Sanskrit School.
Want to be truly happy? Follow these 10 simple steps and you'll be smiling a lot. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->