In the ever-broadening quest to categorize, pigeon-hole, map and otherwise button us up, a couple of beaker-heads at New York’s Hamilton College and the University of Warwick in England have “pinned down” and ranked the happiest states in America.
Just in time for Christmas. You thought you were happy, giddy and brimming with the season’s joy. Then you realized you live in Peoria.
I can’t thank these men enough, given that we have only a finite amount of time and fossil fuel to drive to and then reside sufficiently long enough in all 51 locales to determine if we’re happy as any one clam can be.
Given my current remaining life expectancy and the reliability of my car, I can get to, oh…four states – if the weather holds. But now I know just where and where not to go to be as blissful as humanly possible.
See you in Louisiana.
Indeed the bayou state was ranked number one in human happiness, with New York coming in last, as in dead, stinkin’, wretchedly last.
Wait a minute, one of the researchers lives in New York, so we already know he’s a miserable %$##@. Isn’t that enough to skew the results right there? He was probably in his lab coat at 3 a.m., sipping cold coffee and grousing over the final tally when it dawned on him he couldn’t possibly be happy in New York.
So he decided to dump on Indiana.
The point is, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. It’s a study, which is merely the result of a grant application, and any fool with a Bunsen burner and a pen can apply for money.
Looking back, my happiness all too often had little to do with where I lived, even though our brain-boys contend I can be only moderately happy in Wyoming where less people live in the entire state than reside on my block in South Florida.
In fact, my smiley quotient didn’t have much at all to do with my circumstances as I migrated to and fro across the country. It seemed, however, to hinge critically on how I chose to react to what was happening – regardless of where it was happening.
Last week, 54-year-old James Bain was released from prison after doing 35 years for a crime authorities now say he didn’t commit. Amazingly – or predictably – Bain said he harbored no anger because he had God.
I suppose happiness depends more upon how you live than where you live.
Seek the nuance. Dig below the surface or rediscover the obvious. Tell someone what you’re sure they already know. They might have forgotten. Or maybe it’s just gotten lost in all the irrelevant hype we call our popular culture.
To paraphrase our favorite Scottish essayist, contrive to be healthy and happy. Contrive with the vengeance of a desperate man. Wherever you are.
This holiday season, we wish you health; we wish you love, and we wish you peace. We wish you happiness.
Even if you live in Connecticut.