by Moses Ingram

Created on: March 09, 2008

Norman Vincent Peale once wrote of a friend, that he always appeared to be happy. One day Peale inquired as to his secret, and was told, "when I awake in the morning, I have two choices, I can be happy or I can be unhappy, I choose to be happy". It may not be quite that simple, but he was certainly on the right track. Attitude plays a big part in whether we enjoy life, simply tolerate it, or make it just downright miserable.

I have always felt that there is a close connection between happiness and gratitude. When someone is grateful for what life has accorded him, he will be happy. We all know of people who seem to have everything and yet look dejected and unable to find happiness. On the other hand, some of the happiest people around have very few material possessions.

Another attribute of a happy person is the ability to handle whatever life throws at them, and still come out smiling. The capability to find something good in every situation sets a woman or man well above the ordinary. The loss of a loved one can be among the most distressing of situations, yet there are those who insist upon celebrating the life of the one passed on and emphasize their gratitude for happy memories.

The authentic story of Kaspar Hauser is a prime, if unconventional example, of how one can be happy under any circumstances. Incarcerated in a dungeon for as long as he could remember, Kaspar lived in a cell that measured 2 by 1 by 1.5 metres, where neither sight nor sound could reach him, and on a diet of black bread and water. He was released at the age of seventeen, and appeared on the streets of Nuremberg in May of 1828. Placed in the care of a policeman, he was locked in the Vetsmer Gate Tower. The youth seemed perfectly happy to sit alone in his cell motionless and mute, with his legs stretched out in front of him. Later he was sent to live with a schoolteacher who taught him to read and write. Kaspar however was never content on the outside, and soon asked to be returned to his dungeon, saying it was the only place where he had been truly happy.

In what has become known as the beatitudes, with which Jesus begins the sermon on the mount, he uses the word blessed or happy, a total of nine times. Some of those that he refers to as happy, would make most of us doubt his renowned wisdom. Happy are those who mourn, happy are the meek, happy are those who are persecuted, are examples of such utterances. It is quite cleat however, that Jesus understood that one can be happy under any circumstances when he/she comprehends things rightly.

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