We seem to be a society obsessed with this question. We take the pursuit of happiness very seriously.
Very often a friend confides, "I'm considering divorce. I'm just not happy." More often a parent says, "All I want for my children is that they be happy." We want happiness to come in a bottle like perfume so we can just spray it on. But sometimes, we just have to wait out or wade through the sadness, anger or discontent.
Thousands of dollars are spent on counselors, psychologists and support groups as people seek to be happy, or at least content, 24/7. Publications from Good Housekeeping to The
Wall Street Journal exhort us to "be happy." Polls and surveys are conducted to see how well we are measuring up. The Gross National Happiness index is one. The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being index is another.
The 2014 Gallup National test, recently released, was based on more than 176,000 phone interviews. It rated each state on five elements of well-being. Alaska was named number one. Next in line were Hawaii, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. I'm skeptical of these findings. (I thought Texas would be No. 1.) Happiness is not something we can appraise, like a house. Neither is it a goal unto itself, like loosing five pounds.
Happiness is a state of mind. Every morning when we wake up, we must choose to be happy that day.
Perhaps the question, "Are you happy" should be replaced by "How happy have you chosen to be?"
Quote of the day: Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be. ~ Abraham Lincoln
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