Most people want to be happy. If you ask 100 people, 80% will say, “Of course I want to be happy. Doesn’t everyone?” Yet most of those people are not. Why? What causes happiness? Can it be created?
I believe the answer is yes. Abraham Lincoln, who suffered more tragedy and heartache than most men will ever know, once said, “A fella is about as happy as he makes his mind up to be.”
Many sociologists believe happiness is like spontaneous combustion. It just happens when all the conditions are just so. To be sure, it’s temporal and goes as quickly as it comes. I can be happy if someone gives me a gift. Yet, I can be equally happy if I give a gift to someone I care about. So it’s up to me. Give first, get later.
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