This is the script of this morning’s Pause for Thought with Zoe Ball on BBC Radio 2.
Do you remember all those Nordic Noir telly series a few years ago – like ‘The Killing’ and ‘The Bridge’? They were brilliant – the police sound remarkably more gentle when they do their stuff in Swedish, Norwegian or Danish. Lovely languages to listen to while unspeakable things happen on the screen.
Well, a few years ago I went to Finland to do some work. It was late autumn. It was freezing. Everywhere was misty and wet and flat. Lakes linked between sodden forests and we only got a few hours’ real daylight. I know Finland isn’t Scandi, but I did begin to understand why so many imaginative murder mysteries might emerge from such a place.
So, I was a little surprised to read last week that Finland has been named the happiest nation for the sixth year running. Apparently, Finns say – cheerfully – that “the pessimist will never be disappointed” and “happiness always ends in tears”.
Well, good for the Finns. Apparently, having lower expectations means that there’s less room for disappointment. Apparently.
Now, this got me thinking about what happiness actually is. And it isn’t obvious. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says that the sorts of people who are “blessed” – or, in some translations – “happy” are those who mourn, who are poor in spirit, who make peace (peaceMAKERS and not, as the Life of Brian had it, “cheesemakers”), who are merciful, who are persecuted, and so on. They don’t sound like the obvious candidates for happiness, do they?
And here is where I think it gets interesting … and makes us think differently. If you assume life should go effortlessly well for you, then happiness might not be your leading characteristic. Because stuff happens and life throws up things we can’t control. But, if you take life as a gift – something to be celebrated,if not earned – then we look for the light shining through the cracks … and risk finding joy in small things.
So, good on the Finns. They clearly haven’t heard the Bobby McFerrin song ‘Don’t worry, be happy’! Happiness clearly can take us by surprise even in circumstances that are otherwise tough.
