Hector’s trip takes him to different places (while these are not specifically mentioned, one can surmise that these are Hong Kong, a country in Africa, and the US). He meets old friends in these trips and makes new ones. He has all sorts of adventures ranging from a flirtation with the “prettiest Chinese girl he’d ever seen in his life” to being kidnapped by goons, talking to a monk, attending to a sick woman in a plane, and discussing the theory of happiness with a professor who was a world expert on happiness.
In these travels, Hector made the following observations on Happiness:
1. Making comparisons can spoil your happiness.
2. Happiness often comes when least expected.
3. Many people see happiness only in their future
4. Many people think that happiness comes from having more power or money.
5. Sometimes happiness is not knowing the whole story.
6. Happiness is a long walk in beautiful, unfamiliar mountains.
7. It’s a mistake to think that happiness is a goal.
8. Happiness is being with the people you love.
9. Happiness is knowing your family lacks for nothing.
10. Happiness is doing a job you love.
11. Happiness is having a home and a garden of your own.
12. It’s harder to be happy in a country run by bad people.
13. Happiness is feeling useful to others.
14. Happiness is to be loved for exactly who you are.
15. Happiness comes when you truly feel alive.
16. Happiness is knowing how to celebrate.
17. Happiness is caring about the happiness of those you love.
19. The sun and the sea make everybody happy.
20. Happiness is a certain way of seeing things.
21. Rivalry poisons happiness
22. Women care more than men about making others happy
23. Happiness means making sure that those around you are happy.
(Hector crossed out #18 for fear that such will upset Clara, his special friend, if she happens to see his notes.)
The professor said that Happiness can be measured as follows:
Average = (What We Have – What We’d Like to Have) + (What We Have Now - The Best of What We’ve Had In the Past) + (What We Have – What Other People Have)
The professor explained that the average of the differences is closely related to happiness and the smaller the difference, the happier we are.
The monk’s formula, however, is different. He said that Happiness is as follows:
Happiness = Certain way of seeing things + feeling useful to others + doing a job you love
“Hector and His Search for Happiness” is a delightful book written with child-like simplicity but replete with age-old wisdom. Hector’s trip gives us the realization that people have different concepts of what happiness is and as such it is difficult to arrive at a universal formula for achieving happiness. The beauty of this book is that while it does not tell us how to attain that elusive elixir, it gives powerful insights on how we can be less grumpy and less satisfied in our lifetimes.
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