Wow. I didn't think it would actually
go down..
I don't know if you know (I do because I'm a dork, but that's a whole different reason), but the
Gallup polling organization teams up every year with Sharecare and
surveys Americans about how happy they are. It creates a “happiness
index' for the U.S., and allows people to see what the general mood
of the country is like. They're out with their newest survey, and I
have to admit I was shocked when I saw the results. Between 2016 and
2017, for the first time ever, the “happiness index” for the
average American actually fell.
In the course of one year, the mental
well-being of this country took a nosedive.
As to why, I'm sure there are many
reasons. Between 2016 & 2017 we had a change in administrations
and Washington found itself wrapped in chaos. Natural disasters
seemed to grow more intense and more frequent. And more and more
people found themselves struggling just to make ends meet. I guess
any one of those factors could lower the cumulative happiness index
of the country.
Put all of them together, and maybe
it's not surprising we're not as happy as we were just one year ago.
The survey also breaks out results by
state, and for the first time ever every single state saw it's
happiness index fall. As for Michigan, we actually had one of the
smallest drops in happiness for states. And while we did have a
drop, the state as a whole moved up in the survey; instead of living
in the 39th happiest state in the country, we now live in
the 32nd. That, if nothing else, shows just how far other
states fell in the happiness survey. In fact, I'd be curious to know
what happened last year in both Alaska and Maine, states that were
among the 10 happiest in the country in 2016 but ended up in the mid
20s in 2017.
Someone take the Prozac out of those
state's water supply?
Being an optimist (and a happy person)
at heart, I'm hopeful that we'll regain our collective happiness one
day. 2017 was a bizarre year in every sense of the word, as we
navigated through unprecedented shifts in our group psyche. We had
to figure our way through this new landscape, and try to pick the
best paths for us as individuals. 2018, with any luck, will be a
little more calm, a little more stable, a little easier for us to
attain the happiness that we seem to have lost in the last year.
With any luck.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Like I
said, I'm hopeful that when I read these survey results next year
that 2018 will have been a much happier year than 2017. of course,
I'm also realistic enough to know that it could be even worse; after
all, nothing would surprise me these days.
But I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
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