Johnny Mathis and a host of others have been singing for the 6 weeks IT’S    THE    MOST    WONDERFUL    TIME    OF    THE   YEAR

HAPPINESS has traditionally been considered an elusive and evanescent thing. To some, even trying to achieve it is an exercise in futility. It has been said that “happiness is as a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.”

Social scientists have caught the butterfly. After 40 years of research, they attribute happiness to three major sources: genes, events and values. Armed with this knowledge and a few simple rules, we can improve our lives and the lives of those around us. We can even construct a system that fulfills our founders’ promises and empowers all Americans to pursue happiness.
Psychologists and economists have studied happiness for decades. They begin simply enough — by asking people how happy they are.

The richest data available to social scientists is the University of Chicago’s General Social Survey, a survey of Americans conducted since 1972. This widely used resource is considered the scholarly gold standard for understanding social phenomena. The numbers on happiness from the survey are surprisingly consistent. Every other year for four decades, roughly a third of Americans have said they’re “very happy,” and about half report being “pretty happy.” Only about 10 to 15 percent typically say they’re “not too happy.” Psychologists have used sophisticated techniques to verify these responses, and such survey results haveprovedaccurate.

Beneath these averages are some demographic differences. For many years, researchers found that women were happier than men, although recent studies contend that the gap has narrowed or may even have been reversed. Political junkies might be interested to learn that conservative women are particularly blissful: about 40 percent say they are very happy. That makes them slightly happier than conservative men and significantly happier than liberal women. The unhappiest of all are liberal men; only about a fifth consider themselves very happy.          .          .

Mind you.        .        .

This story was op-ed was written by

Albert C. Brooks

in the New York Times

DECEMBER 13, 2014

but it could be

TODAY’S  HEADLINES

o r

T         O         M         O         R         R         O         W  ‘   S

So.          .          .

what      makes      you      happy?

It’s   not   answering

the   opposite   of

WHAT    MAKES    YOU    SAD?

Is  it  the  Hap

H  A  P

HAPPIEST   TIME  OF  THE  YEAR ?

Could it be?

Something tells me

you won’t need to consult the

Social Scientists

or house up in their

respective labs to

F I N D     O U T

and better.        .        .

provide that illusive feeling

for another.        .        .

Psssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssst:

You’re   the
R  e  a  s  o  n 

for      the
S   e  a  s  o  n

.          .          .Share   Excessively

(o   f   t   e   n)

BE    A    Producer    of    Smiles

infest

infect

others with

J          O          Y

Make it a neverending

incurable

epidemic.         .        .