Happiness. That oh so elusive thing that we all search for. Endlessly scowering the earth for that fix, a way of transforming our lives into our dreams, come true. It can take months, weeks, years, an entire lifetime and still there are no guarantees we’ll ever find it.

Happiness can and does mean something entirely different for each and every one of us. Luckily there are numerous opportunities for us to fulfill our dreams, to find our true happiness.

For some of us it’s things. A collection of stuff would make us the happiest people on earth. Perhaps it’s a beautiful new Home, a Car, a Boat, a Motorhome, all those endless things that we are conditioned to think, from an early age, that are the keys to happiness.

We’ve all heard the saying, “He who dies with the most toys, WINS!” Makes sense doesn’t it? Well, it does to me anyway. Not that I’m ever gonna have the most toys (or ANY toys for that matter) but the basic premise seems to be legit. Maybe toys ARE the key to happiness? Hmmm…….

Others might believe that a loving family could hold the key to happiness. A spouse that truly loves them, lots of kids to share their life with, perhaps even Grandkids to continue on the chain of happiness. Maybe they grew up in a large family and to them, a large group of loved ones around them constantly would truly be everything to them.

Some might think that having the perfect job or career could hold the key for them. Not only because it could bring in large amounts of money but the title could afford them the prestige that would truly bring them happiness. To live up to, maybe even exceed their own potential would be their greatest reward.

And oh yes, we can’t forget to add money to the list of keys to happiness. Matter of fact, perhaps I should have put this at the top of the list. There’s a pretty good chance that this would be the number one most requested. I’d have to believe that most everyone thinks that money would be the answer to all of their problems.

After all, aren’t the richest people in the world the happiest of anyone? I don’t know any of them personally but I’d have to wonder if they truly are. With all of the responsibility, not to mention the high stress level that also goes with the territory, I have to question just how truly happy they really are….inside.

I’m just like everyone else, on a quest for happiness. Nothin’ wrong with that. For me though, while I used to think that money was what I wanted most in life, MY key to happiness but over the last three or four years I’ve come to realize that it’s something entirely different that’s going to truly make me happy. Inside. And after all, isn’t inside where it counts the most?

Unfortunately I’ve come to learn that my key is something so much more difficult to obtain than money. Heck, money is easy when you think about it. Find someone that’s making alot of money (hopefully doing something you’d enjoy doing, something you’re passionate about) and model yourself after them. Do what they do and don’t stop until you’re wealthy….or wealthier. Pretty simple, huh?

No, my key is so much more elusive than that. Even more difficult than capping a gushing oil well a mile underwater. Heck, I only wish it was that easy. That only took a couple months, my search could take an entire life time. And still no guarantee I’ll find it after all that. I’ve come to learn that the key for me is true love.

Yeah, I can hear you already, sayin’ good luck with THAT one! See what I mean about gettin’ rich or fixin’ an oil leak? Those things pale in comparison to finding true, undying, commited, do whatever it takes to make it work, love. Ok, that’s enough. Please stop laughing at me.

But if there’s one thing about me, it’s the fact that I’m too stupid to know when to give up and so I’ll continue on my journey because I know inside that the minute I stop trying, as soon as I quit moving forward, that’s when the woman of my dreams will surely never be found. For all I know, she could be just around the next corner, searching for ME and if I stop trying, we’ll never meet. And that would truly be a shame.

While my pursuit of happiness might seem impossible to achieve, not to mention ridiculous to some, others might be able to relate on some level and it’s quite possible this could also be their reason for continuing on each and every day. Their motivation to continue their own pursuit of happiness.

Ahhhhh, yes, the “Pursuit of Happyness”. One of the best movies of all time. If you haven’t seen it, you should. I won’t give it away here but let’s just say that if you want (or need) a lesson on the importance of perseverance, what drive and motivation, in the face of impending demise, are all about, then you should watch this movie. I guarantee you will come away with a new perspective on just how hard YOU actually work to achieve your goals. Might be the wake up call you need.

Goals. Aren’t they basically the driving factor for all of us? The force that guides us to all that we want to achieve in life? We all tend to set them, yet some of us stay focused on them more than others. Some have a way of keeping a laser type of intensity on them, a burning desire, while others will set one after another and never reach any of them.

And how do we retain our focus, keep our concentration directed towards where it should be in order to meet these goals? That seems to be different for everyone. Just as different as the keys to happiness are for each of us. Unfortunately there isn’t a magic pill that we can all take to help us get to where we wanna be. I so wish there was as I’d buy stock in that Company immediately! That would help achieve one of the keys on my list.

All this brings to mind a question of sorts. While we search for our keys, are we supposed to be miserable along the journey? What kinda fun is that? Why not learn to be happy now? Happy with what we have instead of miserable because of what we don’t have. Wow, now there’s a concept!

Sure, we all need a healthy desire for more to keep us moving forward, motivating us to do more, to be more, to have more but at what cost? To live a life of misery, thinking that someday we’ll be happy, once we find our key, THEN we’ll be happy?

Who’s to say we’ll ever find it? And if we don’t, what then? We ended up spending our entire life miserable, more miserable than it had to be, that’s for sure.

Why is it then that we find it so difficult to even be the slightest bit happy with what we have now, no matter what it is? Sure, it might not be everything we want but I’d have to think that most of us, without much trouble at all, could immediately think of something in our lives we can be happy about.

We all have Pity Parties, “Woe is me” times, but at the end of the day we ALL have something to be happy about, something to be grateful for. I’ve been goin’ through lots of crap these last couple years and sure, I’ve got tons of stuff to complain about (and regretfully, sometimes I do) but even I can come up with things in my life to be happy about.

Once I had a friend say something that really struck a chord with me. She said, “Next time you want to complain about your life, just think about the millions of people around the world that would give anything to have your life.”

After I began to recover from the feeling of standing about one inch tall, I couldn’t help but agree with her and see her point. Sure, my life was suckin’, my world was crumblin’ but at that same point there was someone else on the planet that had no food, no water, no shelter and she really helped to put things into perspective for me.

No doubt my life wasn’t up to my standards, wasn’t what I wanted for ME but there were people that were doing so much worse than I was. So I had to be grateful that I lived in a Country that would afford me the opportunity to basically do anything I wanted to do, to be anything I wanted to be. I had to give in and admit that I actually am lucky.

While I don’t have everything I want, I don’t think anyone does. Not even Oprah. I mean, how much would it suck to have so much wealth that nothing excites you anymore? You could buy anything on earth, a hundred times over and nothing to stop you. But nothin’ even gets you motivated enough to so shopping.

To be honest, that doesn’t really sound all that good. I LOVE MONEY but when there’s nothing left on earth for you to buy and you have to start looking at buying an actual Planet (Hmmm, will it be Venus or Pluto? Maybe Uranus?) on Craigs List, that’s when you know the fun train has just about reached the end of the tracks.

Luckily, most of us don’t have that problem. We’ll NEVER have that problem. Our problem is that we’re just not happy with what we currently have but that can easily be remedied. Not by what we have in our wallet or our Bank account but by what’s between our ears.

Sure, we could always be happier and someday we might be but let’s make a choice today. All it takes is a slight shift in our thinking. Let’s choose to be happy now. Because someday may never come….

If you are struggling with happiness, forgetting to be grateful for what you have, I’d enjoy hearing about it and if you enjoyed this post, I’d appreciate it if you’d share it with your friends.