by Rae Anna Blake

Created on: December 08, 2008   Last Updated: January 13, 2009

What is it that is the "secret to life"or the key to happiness? Does such a thing even exist? And is it the same for everyone? I am going to go out on a limb here and say that the secret to happiness is something that is totally personal and individually different for each and every one of us.

Ultimately the first thing that comes to mind is money, if we have money then we can be happy right? But yet we have seen countless people with millions upon millions of dollars, specifically in the entertainment industry that seem to be far from happy in spite of all their money. Why is that? I guess it all depends upon what is done with that money, and living in excess does not always yield happiness, which many people find out later, rather than sooner.

So of course or next step on the ladder of happiness is love, isn't it? I mean love conquers all, does it not? Well, yes and no. Having the love a support of another and of your family can surely carry you far in life, but love does not conquer all. As much as we would like to believe it does, it simply does not. In the case of children that love does hold a little different and it does carry a parent or grandparent through the difficult times. But again, not everyone is parent material, so it all depends on the individual. Plus there is the added complexity in many relationships of a step child or a blended family which can truly test the theory of love conquering all.

So then we venture to look at accomplishments and careers. Is it what we accomplish with our lives, what we do with out talents that determines our level of happiness? Are many of truly doing what we love and what we enjoy? Or are we simply going through the motions in order to survive and pay the bills? Sometimes doing what we love will not put bread on our table and sometimes feeding our family is not the result of passion, but our necessity.

I think finding the right balance for each individual person can determine what is the key to our own individual happiness. Some people are satisfied in fulfilling their professional goals and not very interested or focused on seeking out love or parenting a child. Then there are others that would willingly give up their 9 to 5 job if they could afford to do so in order to spend every waking moment with their children and their family. Then some people think measuring their happiness is dependent upon the zero's in their checkbook. I truly think that there is no clear cut answer that fits the mold for everyone.

Determining what we need and what we want out of life will give us a guide to where we need to be in order to find out personal happiness. Then setting forth a plan to accomplish what we want will help us achieve that goal and find what makes us happiest. For some it will be our family and our children, for some it will be our success, for some it will be our ability to help others, for some it may simply be the wet nose of our dog when we come home at the end of the day, and for others it may simply be the sight of the sunsetting on the ocean. Who can really define happiness in a universal way that is going to fit the needs and wants of every person? I don't think that it is possible. We all have to decide what things in life mean the most to us and bring us the most job to even attempt to answer the question "What is the secret to happiness?"

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