The Pursuit Of Happiness

Think of it as following Thomas Jefferson's orders -- whatever you're doing this Fourth of July weekend, pursue happiness. It's your inalienable right, guaranteed by the Declaration of Independence.

What is not guaranteed is attaining happiness, CBS Sunday Morning contributor Martha Teichner says.

Finding happiness, according to an old Japanese proverb, is "like clutching the shadow" or "chasing the wind." But according to researchers in the brand new field of positive psychology, happiness may not be so elusive after all.

"This is an attempt to bring the naughty thumb of science to bear on what makes life worth living," professor Marty Seligman says.

Seligman spent 35 years studying depression before becoming director of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

Yes, major universities now offer courses, even degrees, in the study of happiness.

"The goal of positive psychology is first, the understanding, but much more importantly, increasing the tonnage of happiness in the world.

Speaking of tonnage, there is Lou Gagliotto, New York City's oldest garbageman. At 78, he is the living embodiment of what positive psychologists are learning about happiness.

In 49 years on the job, he's never taken a sick day. Not one. And forget retirement.

If you're saying, "Come on, he can't really be that happy picking up garbage," well, you're wrong.

Gagliotto, it seems, fits the profile. For starters, research shows old people are happier than young people.

And "Gags," as he's called, concentrates on what he likes and dismisses the nasty, smelly part.

What's most important is that his work allows him to provide for his family. Every summer he takes the entire Gagliotto clan on a long vacation.

"Happiness breaks down into three things," Seligman explains. "One is what Hollywood means by happiness, which is the pleasant life. The second notion into which happiness dissolves is engagement in life, the engaged life. And the third notion which is different yet, is a meaningful life, belonging to and serving something that you think is larger than you are."

Which perfectly describes Peter and Mary Gregory.

For the last 22 years, they've operated a retirement home for horses, a refuge for abused horses and other animals in Alachua, Fla.

"This is the pursuit of pleasurable things, you know? You couldn't pay anybody to give you a better life," Peter says.

When Sunday Morning first visited the them in 1994, Peter and Mary seemed extraordinarily happy caring for 70 horses plus assorted abandoned goats, pigs, dogs, and a refrigerator-raiding deer named Thunder. Now, they've got twice as many horses and 17 dogs.

And they're still happy, living the dream they had as newlyweds nearly 60 years ago.

They laugh at the irony of working at least 14 hours a day just so their animals can retire.

"We haven't been to the movies in 22 years. We haven't had a vacation for 22 years, except this one," Peter quips, adding "We're very happy slaves."

The founding fathers would recognize this as the pursuit of happiness, but in ancient times the definition was very different.

"It's kind of the sense that happiness is in some ways related to fortune or luck or the favor of the gods," explains professor Darrin McMahon, who teaches history at Florida State University.

"The word for happiness is cognated with luck. So 'happ' is the root of happiness, happenstance, perhaps, what happens to you. Happiness is something dispensed by the gods, so call no man happy until he's dead because life may look good now, but a piano might fall on your head tomorrow," McMahon says.

Enter the Greeks: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. They began suggesting that maybe, you have a role in your own happiness.

Aristotle, McMahon explains, "says that happiness is a life lived according to virtue, an active endeavor that one carries on over a lifetime.

The early Christians on the other hand figured that life on earth was all about suffering and sin. Happiness came in the hereafter. But by the 18th century when Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, the pursuit happiness in the here and now was a notion whose time had come.

"The pursuit of happiness enshrines the sense that we can make the world. That we can shape it as we would like, that we can do wonderful
things in this world and that's so much a part of the American experiment in a wonderful way," McMahon says.

And it seems to be working: in a recent poll by the pew research center, 84 percent of Americans describe themselves as pretty happy or very happy.

But then why are there shelves of happiness how-to books published every year? What does makes people happy?

Dreaming of winning the lottery? Psychologists say money does buy happiness, but only if you're poor to begin with. Once you're secure, more money doesn't make much difference.

What is it about American culture, that our expectations are constantly being ratcheted up?

"What we find is a heavy burden on some people thinking they should be happier than they already are," says University of Illinois psychology professor Ed Diener.

"Say somebody who is a 7 on a 10-point scale of happiness who thinks, 'Oh, I've got to be an 8 or a 9' and what I wanna say is, 'Maybe, but maybe, a 7 in fine.'"

Diener researches the components of happiness. Compared to other countries, the United States ranks 15th behind Puerto Rico, Iceland and Canada.

"Life satisfaction hasn't gone up in the U.S. So in 1946, the first national life satisfaction data were collected and we looked at life satisfaction since then and it's like this: flat," Diener explains.

Diener is actively campaigning for wellbeing to be reported the way the unemployment rate is or the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Diener says if Americans' wellbeing were measured, "we would pay more attention to it and in particular, policymakers would pay more attention to it."

In other words, a kind of pursuit of happiness index. In 40-something years of research, Diener has learned that there is a lot more to happiness than smiles and fun.

"The happiest people, every single one of them has supportive family and friends. There are no exceptions. What leads to long-term happiness is pursuing that next goal, going after the things we value and enjoying the activities that it takes to get there rather than having the goal itself. So the pursuit of happiness might actually be long-term happiness," he says.

It could be taking out the garbage, caring for horses or fill in the blank. Maybe happiness is a journey, not a destination.