Happiness

Driving back up to Great Haywood yesterday, we listened to a report on the national Happiness survey. Seems it's the northern isles at the top of the poll, in spite of their long winter nights.

Got me thinking about the contrasting effects on my happiness levels of England losing a Test match by an innings, and finishing a really good piece of database construction late on Monday evening. Those northern islanders seemed less dependent on this or that actually happening, and more on the nature of the communities they live in.

We're very happy to be back up on Erin Mae, and shall enjoy various things we've got planned. But that will be a bit different to the joy of having Elissa and Sam with us earlier in the month. In the end it's relationships that contribute most to Happiness, and being over-reliant on the actual state of things is problematic in the end. Old-fashioned contentment – now there's a state of mind to cultivate.