You probably don’t know this, but Friday, yes this Friday, June 20, has been declared the happiest day of the year.
Who knew? Not me.
The news came in an e-mail from something called the Stress Institute. It reports that a researcher at the University of Cardiff’s Center for Lifelong Learning devised a scientific equation using a variety of physical, emotional and stress factors and came up with this Friday as the happiest day of all. At least this year.
In short, the stars aligned.
It’s the beginning of summer, we’re at the pool, reliving childhood memories of firefly nights, working in the yard and spending vacation time with loved ones.
I’m not sure I can handle this much fun at one time.
Kathleen Hall, founder of the Stress Institute, says: “Happiness is a physical state of the brain. When we’re happy, our brain produces neurochemicals that result in us wanting to eat, have sex or maybe sing.”
But all in one day?
I understand the barbecue. I understand the sex. But singing, too? It feels a bit like Christmas. Too much pressure.
And what if we’re not in the mood to cash in on the steak-sex-song trifecta Friday? Will we have missed our chance to experience ultimate happiness for another whole year?
An old friend of mine would be very suspicious of all this. He was always a bit perplexed, albeit amused, by Americans’ obsession with happiness.
For years he’d ask me why we think we’re entitled to be happy all the time. It’s not the way the world works, he’d say. People aren’t supposed to be happy all the time.
I never had an answer for him, so he’d sulk for a while, which I suspect brought him a certain amount of pleasure, if not happiness.
Coincidentally, Friday also is the 10th annual Take Your Dog to Work Day. The organizers, Pet Sitters International, hope the day will spark pet adoptions after dogless workers see what a great companion a dog is.

usatoday.com