August, Newsweek says, is "National Happiness Month." And Aug. 8 will be "National Happiness Happens Day."

The Secret Society of Happy People — a worldwide organization 6,000 strong — has declared it so.

On Sunday, citizens of the world are invited to pass out candy wrapped in silver foil and wear silver sunglasses to show that this cloudy world does, indeed, have a silver lining. Somewhere. Really.

Nevertheless, this year the group has scaled back expectations. Once known as "Admit You're Happy Month," the new motto — "Happiness Happens" — simply asks people to acknowledge that joy does actually exist.

The object is to get people focused on the blue horizon instead of the blues around them.

The day and month were the smiley-faced brainchild of Pamela Gail Johnson six years ago, though not a lot of folks have tipped to the fact. The group — ever optimistic — thinks this year will be a break-out year.

One hopes. Nobody wants to see the Society of Happiness feeling gloomy and disappointed. Besides, in a world filled with terror, shifty corporations and 24-hour negative news broadcasts, a smile works as an umbrella just as well as anything else. And who doesn't want to believe, in some corner of their hearts, that along with that other well-known four-letter word, "happiness happens" as well?

After all, "the pursuit of happiness" was a reason to form this nation. Not pursuing happiness pretty much amounts to an un-American activity. Previous generations didn't laugh at Shirley Temple during the Great Depression and chuckle at Bugs Bunny during World War II just to hand the country over to a bunch of Sad Sacks.

Forget your troubles, come on, get happy.

Happiness is a warm day in August.

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Still, we can't help but side with novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne. He said happiness was like a butterfly. Chase after it and it eludes you. Do something else and it just may light upon you.

From our point of view, that "something else" might entail behaving decently, finding ways to serve others and sacrificing personal fulfillment for the greater good.

That's not an easy recipe to follow. But then, if happiness were easy, more people would feel it.

And we wouldn't need a secret society to promote it.

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