Thailand: Happiness is Not Thinking

Stunning photograph of Thailand

A charming group of Thai schoolchildren

In Thailand I lived with an American man, Scott, and his Thai girlfriend, Noi. Noi taught me the Thai secret of happiness one day when we were alone at the house. She informed me how she was so aggravated with me and Scott because we were constantly thinking too much. She made the comparison of thinking to the exercise of running. Even though your legs are moving and you may appear to be going somewhere, you may really be running straight into a storm, or you may be on a treadmill. People in Thailand never buy self-help books or have therapy related shows such as Dr. Phil. They would much rather not dwell on feelings of sadness and push them to the back of their minds to never be thought of again. This clearly explains why anytime I asked a Thai person if they are happy they looked quite perplexed that I would have asked such a peculiar question. They are so happy that they have never even spent a great deal of time pondering such minute things as happiness itself. If you really think about your options, the bottom line is that there are only three ways to make yourself happier. You can increase the positive, decrease the negative, or just change the subject. This is what the Thai culture has taught citizens to do. They do not think of what has caused them pain or why things are the way they are. They only keep moving and keep living. I think I like the way that sounds.