Happiness: a mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy; good fortune
Happiness: the state of being happy
Happiness: the joy that we feel striving for our potential
Happiness: friends and family
Happiness: food
Happiness: health
Happiness: being adventurous and traveling
Happiness: seeing other people happy
Happiness: seeing someone you love smile
Happiness: knowing I’m always loved
Happiness means something different to all of us. We have different interpretations, meanings and things that make us happy. Why is that? What determines someone’s happiness?
According to the documentary Happy, 50 percent of our happiness is genetic, meaning we have a set point of happiness we can achieve and we don’t normally go too far off that point, not matter what good or bad is happening to us. Much to my surprise, they say that the things we’re told to focus on like income, social status and where you live only make up 10 percent of your happiness. ONLY 10 percent! So where does the other 40 percent of our happiness come from?
Happy says that it comes from intentional activities, or things we can do on a regular basis to become happier. This can be a little to a lot of change that is necessary to spice up your life.
I asked a number of people to fill out an anonymous survey on happiness where I asked “What do you think determines happiness?” and got a lot of different responses, which shows that there truly isn’t one thing that determines someone’s happiness. There were quite a few responses that said they didn’t know what determined happiness while other responses included feeling loved/a sense of belonging, positive environment, relationships, feeling safe, personal outlook and beliefs, community, self-worth, your attitude and yourself. There were a few responses that really stuck out to me and made me think about what determines my own happiness.
“Happiness is determined by something inside you that makes you calm and peaceful. A mindset of I am successful in my own way and I have the things I need and the people I need.”
“Willingness to pick up from a struggle and rising above adversity. Being able to live in simplicity and happy in it.”
“I think happiness is completely dependent on your mindset and not your circumstances. One person could be completely happy and content in the same scenario where another is miserable.”
“Freedom to live without fear, Freedom from the fear of not being able to provide for yourself, the fear of oppression or judgment, the fear of not being able to speak your mind of pursue your dreams. Happiness is being able to live in a way that allows you to make a sustainable living doing something that uses your abilities, and not having to fear that it could all fall from underneath you at no fault of your own. It’s being in control of your existence and not having to constantly worry about how you’re going to make it through the next month.”
The last one really showed that this person knew a lot about their happiness and what they needed to do in order to achieve happiness. Life is the pursuit of happiness. “The Constitution only guarantees you the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.” –Benjamin Franklin
Something that was surprising to me was that out of the 39 responses I got, one single person said that money determined happiness. I feel like our society has pushed and pushed us to believe that money is a direct link to happiness.
If everyone’s happiness is based on different things, then how do you calculate where the happiest places in the world are?
According to The World Happiness Report (WHR), there a number of things they used to rank happiness in the world including; GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, perceptions of corruption and dystopia which is an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one.
I asked 4 questions related to happiest locations in my survey:
What country do you think is the happiest?
There were 8 people who got this answer correct. Before reading the WHR, I honestly would have had no idea that Denmark is the happiest country in the world followed by Switzerland (2), Iceland (3), Norway (4), Finland (5) and Canada coming in at sixth place.
Where do you think the U.S. ranks? (1-157)
This one might surprise you, or it might not. It sure surprised me. Most people who took my survey guessed between 50-100 with a few guessing near the 140’s and others scattered in-between. The person who was the closest guessed 15. According to the WHR, the United States lands in the top 20 at No. 13, followed by Costa Rica (14), Puerto Rico (15), Germany (16), Brazil (17), Belgium (18), Ireland (19) and Luxembourg (20).
What do you think the happiest state in the U.S. is?
Just as you might think, there were quite a few people who responded with Minnesota (I mean who doesn’t believe we’re the happiest state) followed by a lot of Colorado and Hawaii with some others mixed in. According to Huffington Post, Hawaii is the happiest state; this being the fifth time the state has claimed the top spot since 2008. Pretty impressive. Minnesota came in at No. 7! If you want to find out more on how the study was conducted, make sure to check out the article!
What do you think the happiest city in MN is?
Now if you’re like me and guessed Duluth or some other northern city, you would be wrong. The happiest city is…. Mendota Heights! Wait, what? I’ve lived in Minnesota for 10 years now and I think I may have heard of this place once. But according to onlyinyourstate.com, it’s the happiest city because the majority of people own their own homes, have secure jobs and decent living costs, and stay married. The calculations were based on percentage of residents with a college degree, percent married, percent homeowners, poverty rates, commute times, unemployment rates and cost of living. If you want the full breakdown and rankings check them out here.
“Happiness is a choice, not a result. Nothing will make you happy until you choose to be happy. No person will make you happy unless you decide to be happy. Your happiness will not come to you. It can only come from you.” –Ralph Marston
So what makes you happy? What makes you get out of bed every day and live your life?
Whatever it is, hold on to it and never let it go. Your happiness fuels your success and your success will inspire people. Your happiness is everything.