Happiness

A happy life (whatever that means), I think has little to do with my accomplishments, how much money I have, where I live, the status of my love life, how much I weigh or with my talent, wit or beauty. I've known people who have had serious bouts of cancer who are just as happy as those who are perfectly healthy; plain looking folks who are as happy as those who are gorgeous and under-achievers who are as happy as super-achievers. So, clearly then, to me the key to happiness has nothing to do with externals. My life is full of every kind of experience from the beautiful to the painful and to the ridiculous. A happy life comes from believing that even during the darkest of dark, that I’m going to be OK, from believing I'll come out of whatever it is that I am going through and that I am a good and worthwhile person.

The real secret is in recognizing the fact that in order to be truly happy one must live a balanced lifestyle. That's not easily done. One of the most difficult things to do is to train yourself to be constantly aware of the 'balance'. For every plus there is a negative. For every good there is an evil, etc. Once you learn to recognize this fact and watch for it, then you can learn to mitigate the effects that the inevitable change will bring to your life. After awhile, it becomes second nature. By the way, this isn't something that you can or can't choose to do. Nature demands it in all things. It will happen whether you realize it or not. You are simply much better off learning to expect it and deal with it accordingly.