by Vicki Hopkins

Created on: December 11, 2007

Are you happy? Interesting question. Are you asking if I'm happy right now as I write this article? If so, give a moment to ponder that thought. Are you asking whether I could be happier than I am at this present moment? I suppose I could be happier. Couldn't we all?

If I am to take an assessment of my present state at 9:49 p.m., PST, on December 10 2007, I would say I am happy, but not quite as happy as I believe I could be if per chance I finally realize the one thing I'm waiting for in life that I believe will bring me ultimate happiness. I am happy, but I've yet to achieve that all encompassing happy thing I dream about all the time.

Alas, the question remains though, if I do finally obtain the thing that I desire the most in life, will that make me peak at my happiness as if I've arrived at the mountain top of joy? Or, will I discover after obtaining that one thing after all, it really wasn't the thing that could bring me ultimate happiness after all? If that's the case, then I'm definitely going to have to find another thing to achieve or acquire to bring me to another level beyond that, in the hopes of when that achievement arrives, I will have obtained ultimate happiness once again.

If that's the case, then happiness must be a very elusive emotion and something we continually strive for but never really reach or keep. Happiness can never really be satisfied, because it always demands more, as it is contingent upon obtaining what we want, and if we don't obtain it, we believe we can't be happy.

I believe that happiness is not an emotion to be achieved or a place we finally arrive when we get what we want, but it's an attitude that we should possess. If happiness is always contingent upon achieving it, we will fail in our attempts every day to constantly obtain it. However, if we carry it as an attitude, hold onto it as a way of looking at life, not letting our surroundings or circumstances affect it, then happiness is a state we can always maintain to some degree.

I may never obtain that one thing I think will bring me to that ultimate place of happiness, but it doesn't mean I can't possess happiness without it.

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