THE HAPPIEST NATION?

And it’s chosen most often in Scandinavia

Our Declaration of Independence tells us we’re endowed with an inalienable right to pursue happiness. But let’s be clear about it: We have the right to pursue it. Attaining it is your own hassle.

The majority of experts, philosophers and wise people throughout history agree that the elusive, difficult to define h-word is more choice than chase, with Abraham Lincoln suggesting that “Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be” and Ben Franklin proclaiming, “It’s the pursuit of something everyone must catch on his or her own.”

From the beginning, it’s not exactly clear what the heck we’re pursuing or choosing, with philosophers since Plato linking happiness to a laundry list of mind-body stuff — moral virtue, knowledge, moderation, pleasure, absence of pain, oneness with God, tranquility, freedom, lack of fear, satisfaction and wholesome relationships. One historic theme appropriate to modern-day America is the idea that happiness requires the avoidance of politics.

Sonja Lyubomirsky, a happiness expert at the University of California Riverside, said she was too swamped to talk late last week. But in her lectures, she’s said happiness is 50 percent genetic, 10 percent circumstantial and only 40 percent under our own control. Things we expect to make us happy often fail in that regard. Think large amounts of money. Things we don’t expect to make us happy, in fact, can do just that. For example, she was quoted in 2013 as saying, “It’s often negative experiences that help us grow and learn, which is vital for being happy.”

All of which is to say, happiness is elusive. We might think it requires a difficult ascent to some mountain peak when, in fact, it might be simply right there to be had. Consider Odgen Nash describing happiness as “having a scratch for every itch.”

So if everyone has a different definition, how did the United Nations decide that Norwegians are the happiest people on earth?

Last month, the World Happiness Report 2017, prepared by the UN’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network, put out its fifth annual list of happiest nations, with the United States remaining in the mid-teens (14th) with an ever declining score, once again indicating that happiness in the United States is becoming ever harder to attain.

The report evaluates national happiness-based concepts more easily measured than moral virtue or tranquility. The factors it uses include gross domestic product per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make choices, generosity, perceptions of corruption, and dystopia (opposite of utopia) — the sense that you’re not in a very nice place.

Based on those factors, countries closest to the poles generally are deemed happiest, with Norway, Denmark and Iceland claiming gold, silver and bronze. Finland was No. 5 and Sweden 10, all of them generally described as Scandinavian nations. The fact that Canada is No. 7 means countries hanging around the Arctic Circle

seem to be pretty happy about it. Electromagnetism? Northern lights? Icebergs?

Consider, too, that New Zealand (8) and Australia (9) are among the southernmost nations and among the closest to the South Pole, all while (save for Syria) various African nations nearest the equator — Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi and, finally, Central African Republic — represent the least happy people in the world, largely due to political strife, disease and lack of economic resources rather than geography or latitude.

The report says national happiness actually “depends on a huge range of influences, many of which can be influenced by government policy.”

For many Americans, the pursuit of happiness seems to be coming up empty, with the Harris Poll Happiness Index in recent years indicating that only about one-third of Americans consider themselves to be very happy — and that’s declining. The poll found a higher percentage of African-Americans are very happy (36 percent) than white Americans (34 percent), with Hispanics having the least percentage of very happy people at 28 percent.

In her writings, Ms. Lyubomirsky says being happy is important as “one of the salient and significant dimensions of human experience and emotional life” with rewards for the individual and a key tool in building “a better, healthier, stronger society.”

Happiness leads to higher income, superior work outcomes, more satisfying and longer marriages, more friends, stronger social support and richer social interactions. Activity, energy and better health all bring happiness. Kindness, positive events, gratitude and realizing dreams also foster some joy, she says.

Tim Sharp — Dr. Happy at The Happiness Institute in New South Wales, Australia — said via an email exchange last week that there are several scientific definitions of happiness with the most common being “a positive emotion” and “living a good life.”

“In the first, happiness is a transitory good feeling, important but not enduring,” he said. “In the second, happiness is much broader, and although it includes positive emotions such as happiness and joy, pride and satisfaction, it also includes engagement with life, good quality relationships and connectedness, meaning and purpose, accomplishment and even physical health and well-being. All are considered important for thriving and flourishing.”

He said national studies and rankings measure happiness differently with some overlap. But the focus tends to be quality-of-life variables including income equality, access to public health and education, transport and even political stability.

Scandinavian countries fare well in such analyses, he said, because “they tick all the boxes” when referring to quality of life.

“In these countries, taxes tend to be very high. Accordingly, in return, there’s much less of a gap between the high and low earners, everyone has access to highlevel education, health and support services such as maternity and paternity leave, etc. They also tend to be relatively stable and and inclusive democracies.”

As chief happiness officer at the institute, he said, his focus is happiness in the workplace as a means to increase productivity, positive attitudes and improve workplace culture. That leads to better performance and the retention and engagement of employees.

But bottom line, he said, echoes what Lincoln and Franklin said — happiness is a matter of choice.

“And by this we mean that it’s something we all need to take responsibility for and something that can be enjoyed by focusing on six key variables” whose first letters spell CHOOSE:

• Clarity of goals provides direction and life purpose.

• Healthy living involves activity, exercise, diet, nutrition and sleep.

• Optimism focuses on a positive attitude but also realistic thinking and is something people can learn.

• Others is a short way of saying that happiness leads to and involves quality relationships.

• Strengths — strong core qualities and attributes — are something each person must identify in herself or himself with a recommended focus on one’s strengths rather than spending life trying to fix one’s weaknesses.

• Enjoy the moment and you’ll tend to enjoy life.

“Find out what you are good at and do it as much as possible,” said Mr. Sharp, who holds a Ph.D. in psychology. “In the past it’s been suggested that extroverts are more likely than introverts to be happy. But more recent research has cast some doubt over these findings. It’s my understanding that personality traits are not necessarily good predictors of happiness.”

So we all have a chance at happiness. Just follow the simple words from Leo Tolstoy, who agreed with Dr. Happy, Abe and Ben:

“If you want to be happy, be.”