What is happiness? How does one measure it? How does one compare it? Is striving and working hard to a goal you attain something that makes you happy, despite the pain for the gain? Or does living in mom and dad’s basement and playing videogames all day make you happy? I really don’t know how you might begin to compare these, and personally don’t consider happiness a measurable quantity.
I am reminded of several scenes from a classic sci-fi flick. In the movie based on the classic H.G. Wells novel, “The Time Machine”, we meet the Eloi, a seemingly content group of air-heads smiling and living a simple life. They seem very content and happy; all their needs are met. It is later in the movie we find out they are the food source for the dark cave-dwelling Morlocks. Essentially the Eloi are human cattle. But they are happy cattle.
In any event, there are groups who think they can measure and compare happiness. It turns out the Danes no longer are at the top of these lists; in fact, they’ve slipped to #3, with the Norwegians, Dutch and Finnish leading the pack. It seems only Northern Europeans know how to be really happy 
But don’t tell that to Bhutan, where Gross National Happiness is measured.
If you would like to read more about the happiest people in the world, I refer you to this post on The Local.
The idea that the Danes, and other Scandinavians, are the happiest people has always puzzled me. A Canadian friend, who lived in Denmark for decades, described them as the most depressed people, with the social problems that come with such conditions. It makes me wonder if the criteria for such lists & studies have little to do with conditions “on the ground”.
I do know that the further north people live, the less daylight they have in the winter, the higher the rate of depression. For example, Alaska has a high winter suicide rate at least in part because it is so gloomy there half of the year. The same, I would think, is true of the Nordic folks.
My perception of these sorts of lists is that they represent things that “should make you happy”, much like our friends, the Eloi. What are some of the things that make me happy? An evening with good friends, quality time with wife, sons and loved ones, finishing a challenging hike, a beautiful sunset, a good meal….and, of course, experiencing new adventures at a new travel destination.