Are you happy?

My 5 year old grandson has appointed himself the 'barometer' for the level of happiness all around him, and he takes his responsibilities very seriously. If you spend any time in his company, you will be asked 'Are you happy?' and he will expect an answer. I don't know what he would do if the answer was no, but I am fairly sure he would do all in his power to rectify the situation because he genuinely cares about other people and their state of mind and general well being.

I mention this because my mind was on the theme of happiness, recently my son said that he hoped that I was happy, and indeed I am, but the question sent me down the rabbit hole, thinking about happiness and how different the definition is for each person.

Like the song said '.. different things to different people...' And it is most certainly relative to your last experience. If you have been going through hell and misery, then any level of improvement can be described as happy.

What I believe is, if you are not happy then you are doing something wrong and you need to change your direction. Your happiness is not only your responsibility, it is something that only you can control, it is something you should control. I not only believe this, I do try to live by it. And, as always, I refer you to my book. I also think that helping out those less fortunate generates a sense of happiness and well being.


I love to read The Good News Network, just reading about the things people do simple because it is the right thing to do, or because they feel a need to help out someone less fortunate - that makes me happy and it certainly balances out the constant flow of bad news that media believes is all we want to hear.

Some Quotes on Happiness:

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
―  Gandhi

"Be happy with what you have and are, be generous with both, and you won't have to hunt for happiness."
―  William E. Gladstone

"Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be."
―  Lincoln

“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.”
― Dalai Lama XIV

“Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others...By and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves.”
― Gordon B. Hinckley

"Happiness is not the absence of problems, it's the ability to deal with them.”
― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free