If you're happy and you know it, good for you

The movement bringing happiness to every man, woman, and child has hit a major roadblock. I read recently where our national "shiny, happy people" craze has ended. It's over. Kaput.

All I can say is, "Thank goodness. When are they canceling 'Wheel of Fortune'?"

But why are we moving away from merriness? Is it, perhaps, fallout from watching Leonardo DiCaprio films? Or maybe people can no longer afford cable television, so they've been listening to talk radio and NPR?

Whatever the reason, trends seem to show us avoiding smiles and favoring frowns. Maybe that's for the better, because, according to experts, sadness can be beneficial.

Anyone who's followed my career must agree.

But, seriously, studies show sadness actually might help with things such as focus, assimilation, persuasiveness and even reducing stereotypes.

Does sadness have an important place in the rhythm of our lives? Maybe. When nasty news goes down - illness, loss of a job, your kids move back home - sadness is obviously the appropriate response.

For a while.

Until it gets old.

After a few weeks, you either need to focus on a solution, find joy in unexpected places or get a doctor to prescribe medication so people can stand to be around you again. Although, I'm related to a few un-medicated grumpsters, and they're not so bad.

Perpetual Pollyannas are just as frustrating. Their constant cheerfulness is maddening - what with all the famine, disease, and Jonas Brothers songs out there in the world. Ignorance is bliss, after all, and who wants to be ignorant?

Besides Jonas Brothers fans, I mean.

Blissful ignorance isn't happiness; it is delusion personified by that one friend who doesn't watch the news, can make the perfect quiche, and raises children who never turn on the disposal and yell, "Uh-oh!" before the circuit breaker fails.

We shouldn't confuse happiness and satisfaction, either. We can be happy without being satisfied with everything going on in our lives. How else are we motivated to change things? Many of us consistently seek to better the way we parent, work, love and digest carbohydrates.

We may not always succeed, but it sure is fun trying.

Most people don't wear happiness on their faces, that's for sure. It goes deeper than that. True happiness lives in our souls and alters the way we look at everyone. It's the foundation and result of living a wonderful life.

Profound joy is not always noticeable as we move through 500 parents who can't find the right three-ring binder during back-to-school shopping. Give us a break, OK?

Perhaps we can blame higher education or political affiliation. Many studies show Democrats are moodier than Republicans, while those with advanced degrees seem to be less happy than those who stopped after one degree, five years and $180,000 worth of debt.

I'm not sure I buy that reasoning. Awareness about the world's problems and actively seeking to better our circumstances has nothing to do with happiness. Activists and/or intellectuals can be happy or sad, depending on the day. Their level of intelligence or involvement isn't the point. We seek higher degrees or perform good deeds because we are required or compelled to do so. Happiness is the added bonus, not the goal.

So what is happiness?

I know it when I see it.

At the end of the day, seriously happy people are as delusional and irritating as seriously sad people. True and complete joy is the ability to balance the time to weep, the time to mourn, the time to love and the time to rejoice.

Feel it all.

And then it never gets old.