Happiness is easy and it is simple. Smile for a few minutes and you will generally find yourself feeling a little bit better. But shouldn’t we feel that way all of the time? The more we chase this feeling, the more it becomes elusive in our lives. The more things we try to acquire and the more likely we are to try substances or pills or gimmicks to produce this feeling. Why not feel this way most if not all of the time?

Our natural state of being is to be happy. We were put on an Earth that is abundant in people, resources, and situations for a reason. To know life on Earth is not to suffer, it is to learn how to produce happiness. It is to be able to connect with other souls in a physical way. To hug, to laugh, and to smile.

We tend to get in our own way in feeling happy when we think of the things we do not have or the situations we do not like. And the cycle keeps going as we continue to dwell on what we do not have. The easiest way to shift that kind of thinking is to appreciate what we do have.

If you have a car, you can be happy that you have transportation. If you have enough food to eat, you can be happy that you have nourishment. If you have even just one friend or family member, you can be happy for their companionship. And you can be happy every time you meet or see new people. The potential is there for everyone of them to become a friend. Since we are all connected in some way as human beings, they are also all part of your human family.

The more we find happiness in the simplest of things, the more we will have the more complex things. You cannot run without crawling first and you have to appreciate what you do have in order to have more. Take the time now to just SMILE! Be happy knowing that you are alive and that everything has the potential to become exactly as you would like it to. Appreciate what already is and there will be more.