Happiness Happens

So I'm taking this brief break from chronicling my vacation to Florida to celebrate Happiness Happens Day!

Despite the fact that it's a Monday, I've been pretty happy so far. I have a family that loves me. I have wonderful friends. I love what I do. I'm pretty healthy. And I have some really fun hobbies that keep me busy.

Plus, today I learned that happiness can actually be trained. Yep! All those sourpusses out there who live with a little dark cloud above their heads can actually be trained to be more cheerful. The first step is forcing themselves to smile. The actual act of smiling (whether fake or real) increases one's endorphins. The next step is to do a random act of kindness for someone. If you do five acts of kindness or expressions of gratitude a week, you'll become happier over time. Another step is to write something down every day that makes you happy... a little "Happy Journal."

Despite the fact the the US Constitution actually guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness, we're not the happiest nation. We're actually the 16th happiest. Of course, as C.P. Snow once said, "The pursuit of happiness is a most ridiculous phrase: if you pursue happiness you'll never find it."

Here are some other quotes I found...

"Some pursue happiness, others create it." ~ Unknown

"Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy." ~ Robert Brault

"It is strange what a contempt men have for the joys that are offered them freely." ~ Georges Duhamel

"We are no longer happy so soon as we wish to be happier." ~ Walter Savage Landor

"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have." ~ Frederick Keonig

"If only we'd stop trying to be happy, we could have a pretty good time." ~ Edith Wharton

"The happiness of most people is not ruined by great catastrophes or fatal errors, but by the repetition of slowly destructive little things." ~ Ernest Dimnet

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." ~ Robert Brault

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." ~ Abraham Lincoln

"In order to have great happiness you have to have great pain and unhappiness - otherwise how would you know when you're happy?" ~ Leslie Caron

"You cannot always have happiness, but you can always give happiness." ~ Unknown

"I am a king of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy." ~ J.D. Salinger

"Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for." ~ Joseph Addison

"What a wonderful life I've had! I only wish I'd realized it sooner." ~ Colette

"Happiness is a conscious choice, not an automatic response." ~ Mildred Barthel

"Those who can laugh without cause have either found the true meaning of happiness or have gone stark raving mad." ~ Norm Papernick


What's your favorite happiness quote?