If you were a pollster and asked me on the street, clipboard in hand, whether or not I was happy I would probably reply in the positive, “Yes”, with a firm tone. If you pressed me and asked me to place my happiness on a scale of 1 to 5, I'd pause for a moment and position myself, say, as a 4 – perhaps 4 to 5 if the sun were shining.

If you were a politician, party badge on your lapel, and asked me the same question on the street I would probably reply more equivocally. You'd get a “Yes, but …” the “but” being my opportunity to express anxieties about foreign wars, global warming or “selfish capitalism”, as clinical psychologist Oliver James has called it. I'd give the impression that personally I am happy, more or less. But I think there are some pretty unhappy-making events and forces in the world around us. In my pessimistic moments I might even say they are out of control. I'd be happier with a visionary leader who I felt could address them.

If you were a psychologist and asked me in the lab whether I was happy I'd have a different reply again. Now I'd be feeling that much of the time I am pretty fulfilled. I am passionate about my work, blessed in my relationships, engaged by my interests and more or less content with my lot.