04 Oct 2012

What makes me happy: what celebrated Aussies say

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Ever wondered what the golden key to living well is for some of our country’s brightest, funniest and most creative minds?

Everyday health

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Ever wondered what the golden key to living well is for some of our country’s brightest, funniest and most creative minds?

I collected these sparkly ideas at this year’s Happiness and its Causes Conference.

Anh Do
Comedian and writer

“I bought my mum a house. The motto my dad taught me was ‘Give it a crack son. There’s now then there’s too late.’ Now that he’s older and he’s mellowed out he says there’s just ‘now’. Ring every last drop of love out and spend it on those you love.”

Ita Buttrose
Editor and journalist

“Don’t take your relationships for granted. Each one requires work – every friendship, every partner. It really depends on how important the friendship is to you. Sometimes we hold on to hurt and need to let it go.”

Ian Gawler
Doctor and founder of the Gawler Foundation

“If you want to live well, remember death. Thinking of death is a reminder to live well.”

Martin Seligman (nb. not exactly Australian)
Psychologist and author, founder of the positive psychology movement

“What more is there? What are we going to do with this wealth? Increase wellbeing on the planet. If every human said yes to a more noble purpose, more engagement in life, more positive relationships – than that is the hope for our future.”

David Williamson
Playwright

“What I do is addictive. And I know that if I get the characters right, if it’s [his writing is] speaking to the audience it works its magic. It is really is addictive.”

Peter Fitzsimmons
Writer and ex-Wallabies star

“According to Nabakov [Vladimir, the Russian writer]: ‘Your life is a thin, thin shard of life between two eternal walls of darkness.’ I don’t want to spend it doing things I’m not interested in. I want my life to be a lightening bolt of colour. It doesn’t have to be pretty, but it has to be passionate. Have a sense of family; recognise that we are so lucky to live in Australia; never say, ‘Don’t you know who I am?’

Simon McKeon
Investment Banker; Australian of the Year 2011

“Happiness for me is doing the right thing, being true to what you believe in. Deep down what I am focusing on is simply trying to be at peace with myself.

We have 35 billionaires in Australia at last count but not one of them is what you’d call seriously generous, and I am interested in getting under their skin and finding out what they’re looking for. If building security is all that’s in their life you will find a wall, find something missing. This cocoon can be so snug for them, but they can’t be oblivious to the fact that we’re part of a bigger world.

Bill Gates says, ‘I get up in the morning now and I am on a mission.’ And it’s much bigger than trying to build the biggest IT company. He said building Microsoft was a ride, but it doesn’t even compare to what he’s doing now.

I am not an expert on happiness, but I look at the people crowding the train hanging from the hangers, and I saw a lot of unhappiness. And I think it’s important that we look at this as a culture.

We are all individuals, but we often aspire to the wrong things (things we are pitched through advertising). I think our relationship with ourselves is the important one, and it takes time. That time isn’t spent listening to the rest of the world, it’s time spent with yourself.”

NB: Sources taken from my personal notes, collected while listening to the conference.

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