And The Happiest State in New England Is…

You can't make everybody happy. It's a fact of life. Money can't buy happiness. But according to Chris Janson, it can buy you a boat! But that's not the point of this.

True happiness comes from a combination of things...both internal and external. Despite what some people think, you have a lot of control over your own happiness. A lot of happiness comes from the people you choose to surround yourself with. Also participating in activities you enjoy. And probably most import...attitude. How you choose to handle the stress of family and work contributes significantly to how you see the world.

Wallethub took a look at all 50 states to find the happiest in the entire nation. According to their website, they looked at research to "determine which environmental factors are linked to a person’s overall well-being and satisfaction with life." So they looked at things like good economic, emotional, physical and social health. Then they took a look at each state using 31 key metrics, ranging from depression rate to sports participation rate to income growth.

After the crunched the numbers, they found the happiest state in all of America is Hawaii. Really? Hawaii? Who wouldn't be happy waking up in paradise every morning. I can't imagine I'd be sad about that. Except that it is really expensive to live there. According to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center, Hawaii’s cost of living is the highest of any of the 50 states. But man...those beaches!

So how did New England do? Not as well as I'd hoped. The happiest state in our neck of the woods is Massachusetts. It ranks number 16. New Hampshire is 24. Although it did take the top spot for adult depression. While that isn't terrific...it's still better than Maine. Vacationland came in 33rd. And Vermont is dead last for happiness in New England. The Green Mountain state is a miserable 38. But they can be happy about being the safest state in the nation. As a matter of fact, Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire took three of the top five spots for safest states.

While I thought New England would fare better than it did...the good news is none of us live in West Virginia, which came in dead last. In other words...it's the most unhappy place in the entire United States of America. And people wonder why I moved away from there as soon as I was old enough. There ya go. That's why!

So now go on...don't worry. Be happy.