Come on, get happy

If you can never be too thin, or too rich, then surely you can never be too happy.
Which makes it remarkable that our television sets are overflowing with the promise of wealth and weight loss … but I have never seen a single program related to increasing happiness.
Enter the ABC, to fill the breach with “Making Australia Happy”.
This remarkable program uncovers Sydney as one of the unhappiest places on Earth – OK, no surprises there – and apparently inner-city Marrickville is one of the least happy of the least happy.
Again, no surprises there.
Our guinea pigs are eight desperately disconsolate Sydneysiders, who are taken into a disused shop transformed into “Happiness HQ” where their happiness levels are assessed out of 100.
A score below 50 equals near-depression, and this is where most of our test subjects are hovering.
A potent indication of how depressed these sad sacks are is that when they start to talk about happiness, the vast majority of them start to randomly tear up. Crikey.
In a visionary move, the lead happiness guru takes our guinea pigs to the cemetery to write their own obituaries.
Now that’s bound to cheer anyone up – talk about a golden TV moment.
The fascination here is the simple strategies anyone can employ to be happier.
Early targets are the need for more exercise, and a better diet.
But a more interesting exercise involved the feelgood benefits of helping others.
It was extraordinary to watch a real estate agent, asked to give away $20 in a shopping centre, unable to fulfil the task.
Swearing furiously, he was filled with “burning rage” at the very prospect.
He’s got a good job, a cracking wife, a nice house and drives a BMW. Just one slight problem – he can’t see any of them.
This bloke isn’t unhappy – he’s blind.
This is must-watch TV. Whether you want to be happier or not, tune in next week.
– Jason Beck