Happiness

Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. --Abraham Lincoln

The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. --Allan K. Chalmers

We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same. --Anne Frank

The pursuit of happiness is a most ridiculous phrase, if you pursue happiness you'll never find it. --C. P. Snow


Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy -- because we will always want to have something else or something more. --David Steindl-Rast

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude. --Denis Waitley

Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within. It is not what we see and touch or that which others do for us which makes us happy; it is that which we think and feel and do, first for the other fellow and then for ourselves. --Helen Keller

Love is a condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own. --Robert Heinlein

There is no duty we so underrate as the duty of being happy. By being happy we sow anonymous benefits upon the world. --Robert Louis Stevenson





We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire. The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when?

Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D. Souza. He said, "For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life". This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness.

Happiness IS the way. So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time....and remember that time waits for no one. So, stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire from work, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you die, until you are born again, to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

Author -- Unknown