HAPPY HUNTING

We explore the mystery and the history of this most sought-after state of mind.
Plus, AUGUSTEN BURROUGHS on the downside of being up.

FIND HAPPINESS

Aristotle once wrote that "happiness is a state of activity." In other words, whether you're seeking lifelong satisfaction or a few moments of good cheer,you've got to move forward. We've surveyed the experts and found five steps to take toward a sunny disposition:

1. VALUE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS
Over a 30-year period, University of Illinois researchers asked nearly 120,000 people how income, education,political participation, volunteer activities, and close relationships affected their happiness. Reported Newsweek's Sharon Begley on the findings, "The highest levels of happiness [are found] with the most stable, longest, and most contented relationships."

2. EXPRESS YOURSELF
Singing aloud, talking to a stranger,raising your hand: All may increase a feeling of wellbeing, according to a study from Wake Forest University. Participants tracked their moods for two weeks and reported feeling happier when they were more outgoing and less happy when reserved or withdrawn.

3. SPEND MONEY ON OTHERS
The editors of forbes.com gave $5 or $20 randomly to 46 strangers. Half the group was told to spend the money on themselves, while the other half was told to spend it on others. Those who'd shared the wealth felt much happier at the end of the day than those who'd spent it on themselves. There was no difference in happiness between those who spent $5 or $20, suggesting that it's not how much money you spend, but how you spend it, that can boost the spirit.

4. FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE
Studies from the University of Pennsylvania's Positive Psychology Center show that downcast people who wrote down threegood things that happened to them each day for six months reported an improved outlook.

5. HYDRATE YOURSELF
Drinking water really can help keep you buoyant. A small 2012 study from the University of Connecticut suggested that even slight dehydration compromised the moods of its female participants.

A HISTORY OF HAPPINESS

350 BC. Aristotle writes that happiness is "the best, most noble, and most pleasant thing in the world."

1776. The U.S. Declaration of Independence declares that all men have a right to "the pursuit of happiness."

1799. British chemist Humphry Davy discovered the pain-relieving and giggle-inducing properties of nitrous oxide, aka "laughing gas."

1840s. William Mansel Llewelyn becomes perhaps the first person to be captured smiling in a photograph.

1900s. (early) Parenting books address childhood happiness.

1920s. U.S. Navy sailors introduce the phrase happy hour for the scheduled period of entertainment and relaxation aboard the ship.

1935. Patty and Mildred Hill's "Happy Birthday to You" is copyrighted.

1950s. Sound engineer Charley Douglass invents the laugh track to fill in audience laughter during radio and television programs.

1950s. The media terms tranquilizers "happy pills."

1972. Bhutan leader Jigme Singye Wangchuck introduces "gross national happiness" as a measure for national success.

1988. Bobby McFerrin's song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" becomes the first a cappella song to reach NO. 1 on the Billboard charts.

1998. Martin Seligman, PhD, founds positive psychology, with the aim of making "normal life more fulfilling."

2010. British Prime Minister David Cameron announces the "happiness index," an initiative to measure the well-being of the British people.

2010. Twenty-somethings rethink happiness. "My vision of success is based on the impact I can have, much more than the pursuit of money or prestige," says Matt Salzberg, Harvard Business School class of 2010.

2011. The United Nations resolves that the happiness of its member nations will play a larger role in development policy.

2012. Todd Patkin, author of "Finding Happiness", writes, "Happiness is the culmination of all of the actions, choices, and habits that fill our days, as well as how we think about them."

"Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city." (George Burns)

FORGET HAPPINESS
(By Augusten Burroughs)

"I just want to be happy." I can't think of another phrase capable of causing more misery and permanent unhappiness. With the possible exception of "Honey, I'm in love with your youngest sister." Yet at first glance, it seems so guileless. Children just want to be happy. So do puppies. Happy seems like a healthy, normal desire. Like wanting to breathe fresh air or shop only at Whole Foods.
But "I just want to be happy" is a hole cut out of the floor and covered with a rug. Because once you say it, the implication is that you're not. The "I just want to be happy" bear trap is that until you define precisely, just exactly what "happy" is, you will never feel it.
Whatever being happy means to you, it needs to be specific and also possible. When you have a blueprint for what happiness is, lay it over your life and see what you need to change so the images are more aligned. Still, this recipe of defining happiness and fiddling with your life to get it will work for some people but not for others. I am one of the others. I am not a happy person. There are things that do make me experience joy. But joy is a fleeting emotion, like a very long sneeze. A lot of the time what I feel is interested. Or I feel melancholy. And I also frequently feel tenderness, annoyance, confusion, fear, hopelessness.
It doesn't all add up to anything I would call happiness. But what I'm thinking is, Is that so terrible? Being an unhappy person does not mean you must be sad or dark. You can be interested instead of happy. You can be fascinated instead of happy. The barrier to this, of course, is that in our super-positive. society, we have an unspoken zero tolerance policy for negativity. Beneath the catchall umbrella of negativity is basically everything that isn't superpositive. Seriously, who among us is having a "Great!" day every day?
Who feels "Terrific, thanks!" all the time? Anger and negativity have their uses too. Instead of trying to alleviate some of the uncomfortable and unpleasant emotions you feel by "trying to be positive," try being negative instead. Seriously, try it sometime. This will help you get in touch with how you actually feel: "I feel hopeless and fat and stupid. And like a failure for feeling this way. And trying to be positive and upbeat makes me feel angry, and feeling angry makes me feel like I am broken."
If that's how you feel-however you feel-then you have a baseline, you have established a solid floor of reference. Sometimes just giving yourself permission to feel any emotion without judgment or censorship can lessen the intensity of those negative emotions. Almost like you're letting them out into the backyard to run around and get rid of some of that energy.

THE HAPPIEST PLACE(S) ON EARTH

No, not Walt Disney World. Scandinavia! Thousands of people from many countries were asked how happy they were, based on their job, health, income, and life expectancy. Here, a list of the 11 happiest nations.
1. Denmark
2. Finland
3. Norway
4. Netherlands
s· Canada
6. Switzerland
7. Sweden
8. New Zealand
9. Australia
10.Ireland
11 United States

(Source: Gallup)

$100,000+
Annual salary earned by the happiest Americans

$75,000-$99,900
Annual salary earned by the unhappiest Americans
(Source: Harris Interactive)

Compiled from the "Reader's Digest" U.S.A edition,October 2012.Typed, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.

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