Oh, Happy Day!

Believe it or not, but I am actually reading a book!

OK...I'll give you a couple of seconds to get over the shock.

.....

.....

OK?

OK! It's not like I don't ever read. Actually, I read a lot! However, I normally bury my nose in magazines, and I don't really make time to read books. Besides, I have a subscription to The Economist, and that magazine takes pretty much a whole week to read on its own.

So, back to the book...

I'm currently reading a book called The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner. Oddly enough, I read a review of this book in The Economist while I was flying to Chicago last month, and I decided to pick up a copy at the Barnes and Noble close to my sister's house.

I just started the book yesterday (I'm only on page 54), but I've already read the chapter on Switzerland which - surprisingly to me, anyway - just happens to have one of the happiest populations in the world.

Huh?

I was shocked. After seven years, I must say that I've never really thought of the Swiss as being an extraordinarily "happy" people. But, the chapter (Switzerland - Happiness Is Boredom) was very insightful. Here is one of my favorite excerpts:

Everyone is surprised that my research has taken me to Switzerland. The Swiss happy? There must be some mistake...I take an informal poll around the table. Overall, how happy are you these days? The results are in: solid eights and nines all around, and a seven from the American. The Swiss at the table look surprised, as if they're thinking, "Hmmm. Maybe we are happy. Who knew?"
"So, now that we've determined you are indeed happy, what is the source of Swiss happiness?" I ask.
"Cleanliness," says Dieter. "Have you seen our public toilets? They are very clean." At first, I think he's joking but quickly rule out that possibility, since the Swiss do not joke. About anything. Ever...

The Swiss have done for boredom what the French did for wine and the Germans for beer: perfected it, mass-produced it...

Not only boring but humorless. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Swiss humor operates at an entirely different frequency, undetectable to my non-Swiss ears. And so, with this open-minded attitude, I ask Dieter - diplomatically, of course - if it's true that the Swiss have no sense of humor.
"Define sense of humor," he responds instantly, thus sealing the case....

The Swiss live attenuated lives. They hum along, satisfied, never dipping below a certain floor but never touching the ceiling, either. A Swiss would never describe something as awesome or super, but only c'est pas mal, not bad. Is that the secret to happiness, a life that is c'est pas mal? Or perhaps the Swiss really do find many aspects of life awesome but know on some subconscious level that such superlatives diminish the experience. Describe something as awesome, and it ceases to be so.
Happiness researchers have found that, from a statistical point of view, the Swiss are on to something. Better to live in this middle range than to constantly swing between great highs and terrible lows.

I think I'm going to be VERY happy today...

...because I'm feeling VERY bored.