Synonyms of happiness: Contentment, pleasure, gladness, cheerfulness, joy, glee, bliss, delight, exhilaration, ecstasy.

You can certainly buy items of pleasure, glee, or ecstasy. Though, what makes me delighted might make others stomachs turn upside-down i.e. Martha’s annual Halloween Issue is not so much for everyone. What would it take to be happy? Is total relative happiness a new car away? It possibly could be if your only day to day gripe is the rusted hole on the floor that creates so much highway noise that it gives you headaches for the first three hours of your work day. If that lady or fella received a car which was quiet on the ears. Would happiness be achieved? What is it that determines the answer to the question if one is generally happy? Can happiness be lost with one point of life changing that affects all others? Is happiness an opinion of drinking vessel contents?

Then there are the “little things” people. I consider myself one, most of the time. For instance, now, in the diner “Wild Thing” by Ton Loc is blaring over the sound of hash browns, bacon and pleasant customer conversation while I am shoving a cup of 3 ½ star coffee and perfectly basted eggs into my mouth while typing blogs on my day off and I was able to sleep in this morning. Good day. Happy day. But what about those unlikable little things this morning that I had to complete and the traffic I had to stomach to arrive there. Then I think about the disastrous apartment I have to return to when this meal is over. How do you get past the unhappy aspects, dwell on the positive and move forward without allowing the gunk in life to build up on the bottom of your shoe like gum that attracts dirt and leaves.

In 2007 The New York Post reported that an amazing 94% of people polled claimed to be either “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with their lives. These stats make it appear that we are doing pretty good. . But how many of those “somewhat” folks are also “somewhat wretched”?

If you had access to huge funds, what would you change for the purpose of increased happiness? Think beyond a DVD player in your bathroom and the watch with a diamond dial. Or maybe you never thought of it there to begin with:

*Can you buy happiness?

*What about your life is unhappy?

*What is buyable?

“Joy is very infectious; therefore, be always full of joy.” -Mother Teresa

You could live through sayings such as this.

I think most people would first consider their day to day jobs which are the source of their spending in the first place. Is that part of your life a source of unhappiness? Or is it where some joy comes from. Even if it is a wonderful time, would you quit anyhow? Would the pressure of a job be alleviated if you knew you did not have to go? Is there someplace else you are dying to be in place of your daily schedule? Would you begin hobbies, spend more time with children or family and friends?

Would you venture out of your entire world to escape from where you are and start new? Would you desire to leave the home you occupy now and pay someone to dispose of what you left behind to escape?

What would I do if I could buy bliss? If I could choose my daily to-dos and home and sleep schedule? I could easily write a ten page essay on the changes that would be taking place. But if it came down, would I really do that at all? Would I have sudden motivation to actually spend my nights in a state-of-the-art dark room? Would I want the responsibility of being a home owner? If I tried, would I actually like being a stay at home mom? Could I truly endure the amount of vacations I would like to take each year?

Probably. And every Saturday, as I stand in line at the gas station for a lotto ticket, a one dollar dream, I am going to imagine waking my son Max up in his new bunk bed before I make him breakfast on my Viking Stove where I will put the dirty dishes into a dishwasher and then drive him to school in my 2009 car with a working speedometer and radio before I head back home to pull weeds in my vegetable garden and do laundry in an electric machine before taking a bubble bath and watching Cosby re-runs on the plasma TV situated in my maid cleaned bathroom. 😀 What would you do?