We know that happy people are healthier, that happiness spreads, and that happy people make healthier choices that produce a healthier, happier society. We know this because it is quantifiable and testable. The data also show why a choice that is compassionate and life-affirming is so powerfully transformative.

Part of the reward of becoming an agent of compassionate, life-affirming change, whether or not you get public acknowledgment, is the knowledge you are doing measurable good. There is nothing theoretical about your gift as an agent of change. It may usually be anonymous, but the contribution is quite real.

Research shows that the spread of happiness can be objectively measured and quantified. This work also begins to explain exactly what one needs to do to cause happiness to spread and what the social outcomes are of doing so. The steps that have to be taken are completely…based in individual choice.

There actually is a database of international research on happiness: the World Happiness Report. Published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), it is edited by Professor John F. Helliwell […]