In the United States, one of our constitutional rights is the pursuit of happiness. Strangely enough, despite this being a national goal, the U.S. ranks #23 in happiness according to research. The #1 spot belongs to Denmark. I would have expected a nation with tropical weather, more money, better health, or at least better food to rank #1 for that one trait that eludes many of us.

To be perfectly honest, when I started watching this video, I got a sudden urge to pack my bags, and head over to Denmark. Perhaps not to live there, but to see first-hand how a nation thinks in order to be the happiest in the world. Actually, that’s going on my to-go list right now.

The Danes consider themselves to be a very content people. They are well taken care of by their government in many ways. They are actually PAID to go to school, are provided with health care, child care, and many other benefits. The price of this is the government taking 50% for taxes.

One way to look at the Danes paradigm of themselves is that they are the underdog. When the underdog team loses, it isn’t a big deal, or a huge disappointment, because they weren’t the best team to begin with. However, when the underdog wins, it becomes a tremendous triumph, with all the reason to celebrate.

The key to Danish anti-depression is to have low expectations. They get really excited when things don’t go as bad as they thought they would. The trick is to remain ambitious, and strive for constant and never ending improvement, without being horribly disappointed when things don’t go as planned.

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