Happiness is...redux

Yesterday (11.27.06), everybody's favorite NHL owner, Ted Leonsis, blogged on the "five traits of happiness" ("Not much different than what has made me happy recently," MCW said, rolling his eyes) after seeing "another study on happiness." Leonsis argues that the happiest people he knows all share:

1. Being connected to multiple communities of interest in an active way. The more people on your buddy list the happier you are;

2. Giving back through volunteerism and sharing with others. (YouTube, MySpace and other social networks prove this point on the importance of sharing);

3. Pursuing the higher calling in all of your major efforts, by doing what is right in the right way.

4. Self expression. Having a good third place to exchange ideas, be creative and have your voice be heard (why do you think there are 54 million blogs out there?)

5. Showing gratitude by being thankful and optimistic.

From what I've heard about Ted, he sounds like a pretty "good" guy, but then again, if you take a look of the things he's done over the course of his life (through January of '06) and how much he's achieved and earned, it's pretty difficult to not be happy (IMHO, at least). However, when I just Googled him, both his Wikipedia entry and a posting on ESPN's Page 2 referenced surviving a 1983 plane crash, after which, according to the latter, he made the list of things he wanted to accomplish, which tempers my cynicism about his happiness quite a bit; getting through 70% of them in 50 years of life is pretty impressive.