The Truth About Finding the Secrets to Happiness

To find the secret to happiness it is important to understand what happiness really is, or is not. It is not that elusive pot of gold you keep searching for at the end of the rainbow. It is more to do with your state of mind, rather than what your situation is.

Family and friends surround the happiest people in the world, for happy people don't care about what their neighbours have and tend to lose themselves in daily activities. Vanuatu, with a low ecological footprint, was voted the Happiest Country on Earth, in 2006. This tiny South Pacific tropical island nation, had a GNP that was rated 207, out of the 233 countries world-wide. This proved that money is not the key to happiness for happiness is not something you can go out and buy.

The Pennsylvania psychologist, Martin. E.P. Seligman, states, "The happiest people judge themselves by their own yardsticks, never against what others do, or have".

Others say that the happiest people are those who have learned to forgive easily. Gratitude has a lot to do with life satisfaction and a feeling of well being, psychologists now agree.

The common perception of Western society seems to be that happiness is the outcome of what people achieve, or acquire. These are people who live by the 'If only…' syndrome. Yet, you can achieve everything you want and still be miserable. On the other hand you can have very little and yet be filled with joy.

Another angle to happiness was revealed when a young man found himself recently in danger of losing his eyesight. "Eyesight is worth at least five million dollars an eye. You have two of them? That makes you rich. If you really appreciate your eyesight, then the other miseries are nothing. Yet if you allow it to be taken for granted, then nothing in life will ever truly give you joy".

It is possible, say the experts, to understand intellectually how to attain happiness, yet not put it into practice, for after all happiness is an attitude of choice. There are sadly some people who prefer to be comfortable and unhappy, rather than put up with the discomfort of changing their habits in the search of true happiness.

For others, the key to happiness is based on being considerate of the people they come in contact with. It is well documented that we subconsciously mimic those around us. This is an easy theory to prove. Simply walk into a roomful of people with a smile on your face. Half an hour later walk into the same room with a scowl on your face. Watch the reflective reaction of those around you.

The scientific community now feel that the search for happiness is becoming more scientific and a field of important exploration. Though one researcher, American social philosopher, Eric Hoffer, prefers to say: "The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness".

Not losing a fortune on the stock market in 2008, may be your source of happiness at the moment. Here are a few tips that you may find useful in your quest for happiness:

• Visualize current and future events in isolation

• Realize bad times are an inevitable part of the life cycle

• Rationalize and adjust to the low times as quickly as possible

• Always remember tomorrow is new day. A chance for a new beginning

• Trust in your own resilience – you can always go a lot further than you think you can.

A simple formula to finding happiness is to sit down with your spouse, partner, or roommate at the end of every day and go back over one pleasure that each of you had during the day. If you are a family, incorporate this into your family routine so that your children also learn to appreciate the simple pleasures of daily living.

Life is full of those once in a lifetime Blue Moon Opportunities, that can make or break you. Success it not happiness, but failure to try, leads to a life full of regrets. Here's wishing you all the happiness you can find in 2009.

About the Author: Wendy Stenberg-Tendys and her husband are CEO's of YouMe Support Foundation, (http://youmesupport.org) a child trust fund providing high school education grants to children who will never see the inside of a high school classroom.