What We Know (Or Think We Know) About Happiness

When you don’t know what makes you happy, you can end up chasing illusions that only make you suffer. The secret to discovering happiness might be closer than you think.

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Happiness is a slippery little devil. For some, happiness could be as uncomplicated as earning enough to feed your family, or as basic as clean drinking water or safe streets to walk down. However, if you find yourself fortunate enough to have a stable home and hearth, you might be surprised when happiness feels elusive.

When we are no longer fighting to survive, our notions of happiness can become an endless search for the perfect dream vacation, or some gooey, delicious food. Or depending upon your appetites, happiness might be linked to high-octane sensual experiences that seem to have NOW, HERE COMES HAPPINESS stamped all over them. But disappointingly, after awhile, all of these things tend to leave us feeling empty, irritable, broke, and dissatisfied.

We might believe that it is our right to be happy, but most of us don’t have a clue what we really want and what happiness truly means for us. So maybe you assume that happiness can only be achieved with vast wealth or some tasty tootsie to bring you a three-ring-circus of amazing orgasms. Sure, why not? But based on the noted misery of lottery winners…