如何增加你的幸福感

近几年，中国自然灾难频频发生。2009年由宋晓军等人合着了一本名为《中国不高兴》的书籍，引起世界各界的强烈反响。NPR的前评论家和幸福专家Eric Weiner对此给予了中国5点建议，想了解具体建议的细则吗？那就一起来听听本期的NPR吧！

STEVE INSKEEP, host:

We decided to ask a happiness expert how China can become happier. Commentator Eric Weiner is a former NPR correspondent in Asia and author of the book, "The Geography of Bliss."

Mr. ERIC WEINER (Author, "The Geography of Bliss): Dear China: I understand you've been feeling a bit down lately. Maybe I can help. You see, I spent a year traveling the world, looking for the happiest countries. I know you're primarily in the export business, but importing some happiness lessons couldn't hurt.

Here goes. Number one: Lower your expectations. It works for Denmark. They're the happiest nation in the world, and according to surveys, they have very low expectations. The Danes do get out of bed every morning, and they give 100 percent. But they have roughly zero percent invested in the outcome. That is a formula for happiness.

Number two: Cultivate trust. Psychologists have found it is trust - trust of friends, of neighbors, of government institutions - that plays a huge role in a nation's happiness. Something to think about, Communist Party officials, the next time you're tempted to skimp on building earthquake-proof schools or inspecting baby-formula factories.

Number three: Embrace failure. The Icelanders could teach us a lesson here. As one Icelandic musician told me: It is better to fail for the right reasons than to succeed for the wrong ones. Lately, of course, Iceland has experienced plenty of failure, of the economic and volcanic varieties, but they seem to have weathered those calamities well - far better, I think, than nations where failure is viewed as an unredeemable sin.

Number four: Make happiness a policy - not just in one city, but in the entire nation. The tiny Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan has a policy of Gross National Happiness. Every decision the government makes is preceded by this simple question: Will it make people happier? That question, of course, is not always easy to answer, but it's certainly worth asking.

Number five: Don't think about happiness as too much. Happiness is a byproduct of a life lived well, and so is best tackled covertly, or, as British philosopher John Stuart Mill counseled: Happiness should be approached sideways, like a crab.

Happy crabbing, China. Yours truly, Eric Weiner.

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INSKEEP: And if you have advice for China or you'd like to comment on Eric's essay, go to the Opinion Page at NPR.org.

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INSKEEP: Happy Monday. It's NPR News.