The course that should be mandatory in all schools started in – New Jersey 101.5 FM

What is happiness? It’s where we want to be but do we really know exactly what it is? Wouldn’t it be great if it were something we could teach our children?

That’s what’s happening at Centenary University and in just two weeks they have received over 130 applications from people looking to master the field of “happiness” with the world’s first Master of Arts in Happiness Studies this October in a fully virtual format.

What exactly is happiness? How exactly do we get there? Is happiness the default we end up at if we solve all our problems? Is it our favorite food at every meal? Is it love? Is it a warm gun like the Beatles sang?

There’s an old song from the play “No No Nannette” that goes “I wanna be happy but I won’t be happy till I make you happy too.” Does our happiness really depend on whether someone else is happy? I hope not because it’s hard enough in today’s world to make you happy, let alone someone else.

In order to make someone else happy, don’t you have to be happy first? Like when you’re on a plane and the masks drop you’re supposed to secure air for yourself and then take care of your loved ones. Before you can make anyone else happy, you’ve got to be happy yourself.

So how do we do it? Centenary University is going to try to teach us how. But we shouldn’t have to wait until we’re college age.

Happiness if it can be defined and taught needs to be taught as early as pre-school. Forget critical race theory and standardized testing which can be dealt with in other posts, if happiness is what we want for our children, then let our schools show them not only what it is, but how to get there.

On the other hand, while we’re waiting for that we can make some time through the drudge and aggregation that sometimes is our day and our lives to focus on what it takes to make us happy. Once that goal is set and defined, we can find a way to get there.

Then and only then, like when the masks drop on the plane, can we make you happy too.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Steve Trevelise only. Follow him on Twitter @realstevetrev.

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