“Who do you think is happier?” asks Marc Reklau in his book Destination Happiness, “people who [have] won the lottery or people who [have become] paralyzed after an accident?” You may be surprised at the answer.

“Yes, the lottery winners were very happy, but not for very long,” Reklau continues. “After six months they went back to their previous levels of happiness.”

On the other hand, “the accident victims were sad, but surprisingly after six months, they [also] went back to their previous levels of happiness.” Think about that for a moment. Six months later both groups--those who had won the lottery and those who had an accident and were paralyzed--had returned to their previous state of happiness. I don’t know what that says to you, but it says to me that happiness is an inside job. O…