Are you happy today?

Having extremely high expectations for yourself or others may not be such a good thing after all, for a new study has found that the real key to happiness lies in not expecting too much.

The study, which appears in the upcoming issue of the BMJ, was conducted by a team of researchers who set out to find out why life satisfaction in Denmark substantially exceeds that in Sweden and Finland.

The researchers noted that two explanatory factors, among others such as family life, health and a prosperous economy, give an insight into why the Danes are such a happy people.

The first factor, the researchers noted, was that winning the 1992 European Football Championship made the Danes so euphoric that the feeling lasted well past 1992.

Second, and more importantly, the researchers noted that while Danes are very satisfied, their expectations for the coming year are rather low, as well as being realistic.

In contrast, Italy and Greece, which rank low on life satisfaction, rank high on expectations for the year to come, together with Swedes and Finns.

Thus, the researchers concluded that when it comes to being satisfied, the lower the expectations, the happier a nation and a person can be. 

一项研究发现，快乐的真谛在于“知足”，对自己和他人抱有过高期望其实不是件好事。

这项研究结果将在一期的《英国医学》杂志上发表。研究人员旨在通过此项研究发现为什么丹麦人的“生活满意度”大大高于瑞典人和芬兰人。

研究人员发现，在家庭生活、身体健康和经济发达等诸多因素中，有两大因素可以解释为什么丹麦人比较快乐。

其中一个主要原因是丹麦夺得1992年“欧洲杯”让全国人民欢欣鼓舞，这一情绪一直持续到现在。

另一个更重要的原因是丹麦人对生活感到满意，他们对未来一年的期望值很低，而且比较现实。

而意大利人、希腊人、瑞典人和芬兰人却恰好相反，他们对来年抱有很高期望，同时对于生活的满意度也很低。

研究人员由此得出结论，无论是一个国家还是一个人，期望值越低，就会越开心。

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