How to be happy

Forgetting birthdays, a study that's kind of a bummer but makes sense, and a little thing we can do. Also, 7 other things worth your time.

When I was younger, I was really bad at remembering birthdays and anniversaries.

I’m still not the best, although I’m a bit better thanks to smartphones, online calendars and wildly intruisive social networks that know more about me than I probably know about myself.

Still, it got to be a running joke with my best friend from college that he would call me on his birthday every year and remind me to wish him a happy birthday.

Oh, the unflattering stories I tell about myself to make a point.

I saw a headline yesterday in about nine different places that said something along the lines of: “Study: Americans Less Happy Now Than Any Time in 50 Years.”

Dig in and you’ll find that only 14 percent of American adults say they’re “very happy” now. In 2018, the number who called themselves “very happy” was 31 percent.

On the flipside, half of all Americans say they often or sometimes feel isolated; two years ago it was just 23 percent.

From the AP:

The survey, conducted in late May, draws on nearly a h…