Thursday, May 1, 2014

Happy Happy Chart

When the first Neighborhood and Block Counselors were chosen, their job was defined as making sure that FatLanders were "adjusting" - feeling more or less okay, making friends, walking around, eating as they wished. However, counselors soon found that it was difficult for them to define endpoints. For what were they aiming with the people they counseled?  Contentment? Ease? Peace? Cheerfulness? Happiness?

Those did sound like good words and good states to achieve, but they soon found that every person had her or his level of positivity. Sometimes this appeared as quiet contentment. Sometimes it resembled ease or peace. Occasionally there were people who were more vocal, more emotional and more easily detectable as "happy."  

After getting together and meeting, the counselors decided that they would first and foremost aim for contentment with the people they counseled. If and only if someone wished to feel more involved and excited, and specifically said that she wished to feel more strongly positive about her life, then they would talk with and advise her as to how she might reach, what she might add or adjust to attain the level of cheerfulness and maybe then, happiness, which was something that others had already reached, sometimes on their own, sometimes with help.

They even drew up a chart for themselves, but which also became famous and sometimes something of a joke around FatLand.  CONTENTMENT-> EASE-> PEACE-> CHEERFULNESS-> HAPPINESS.
The "Happy Happy Chart," jokers and sometimes the counselors themselves called it. 

But it worked.

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