The Happiest Place on Earth

So last week I was watching the aforementioned favorite show, The Colbert Report, and on this particular program, Stephen's special guest was a reporter who traveled all over the globe to find the country that is literally the happiest in the world.
While I'm sure there was no lab involved, I am also quite sure that Eric Weiner, author of The Geography of Bliss, used some of the usual benchmarks to determine which popluation, on the whole, was the most content /least stressed. The funny thing is that his results were the opposite of what you might think. When most of us think of a stress-free vacation-like attitude, we picture warm climates, crashing waves, lots of skin, and a fruity alcoholic beverage in the hand. But as crazy as this may seem, the writer actually discovered that the happiest people were those in Iceland and Denmark, cold dark places. ..Other discoveries: Some money will make you happy, but getting more money will not make you happier.
This may seem surprising to you, but really, it makes a whole bunch of sense to me. First, these people are all bundled up under coats. There's no bodies to check out, or fashions to critique, so my guess is that there's much less superficiality going on. Second, and this is what I hear, there is a lot of imbibing going on. Not that they are alcoholics, but they have a binge mentality. Drink like fish on the weekends, then on the straight and narrow through the week. My guess is that on the weekends, they really let it all hang out. No judgements, no tension, just a whole lot of fun. And since they get all of the "shenanigans" out of the way, and I'm guessing forming lots of friendships based on unconditional love, distractions are at a minimum as they progress through a very productive week.
I'd love to try this. That is, not take up drinking as a weekend hobby, but come Friday night really stop the overwhelming, ever-lengthening to-do list, hang out in my PJs till noon, play on the floor with my kids, and make plans to chill out with friends or luxuriate in the lack of a plan with my husband. Come Monday, that list will still be there, but perhaps I can approach it with a fresh attitude, rather than see it as the list I looked at every 15 minutes over the course of the weekend. Because really, what would happen? My guess is nothing. Perhaps I'll even be able to get to those obligations at a faster pace with a better attitude. And how many times have I heard "sorry this is late, Mary, but..." or "sorry I didn't return your call sooner..." Why shouldn't I be one of these people? There's a weekend coming up. In preparation for doing nothing but focusing on relationships and fun, I'm going to cross a few more things off my list than usual before Friday night rolls around. Wish me luck!