happiness-girl-small Quick question: How do you know when happiness is real? How do you know that the happiness you are feeling is not just a fleeting moment, a superficial event that would die out as quickly as it came about, maybe even faster?

Authentic happiness; everyone wants it, everyone needs it, everyone thinks they have to go through circus fire-hoops to attain it. Unless you are truly a masochist, all but the last statement is true. You don't have to go to extreme lengths to be happy. You don't have to sacrifice anything, or give up something to get it. You certainly can't buy it.

Real, authentic happiness can be attained by simply being in that state, as a choice, and not as a result of external influences.

Truthfully, there is such a thing as plain happiness. As I said, plain happiness is fleeting. Here today, gone tomorrow, all depending on the state of things in your life, from complex situations and relationships to something as mundane as the weather.

This happiness, which is affected by outside forces, will rarely last, and is something that you are unable to control. It's a happiness that should only be counted as an additional perk, and not something that you depend your whole life and state of mind to.

Authentic happiness is more akin to the term "Joy." Joy is a heightened happiness, an extreme feeling of pleasure and gladness. There are few who have knowledge of this happiness because it is very rare to find a source of it that is not fleeting.

Authentic happiness should not be affected by whatever is happening in the outside world; it is a feeling that is wholly generated from within.

I've been through rough spots in my life; was in a bad relationship, had less than desirable economic standing, the works. So people are quite amazed when they see me smiling. "How can you be so happy after everything?" I just give them a thumbs-up and say "Because I want to be."

There are a lot of people who let grudges stew in them. Their line is "don't I have the right to be angry?" There is such a thing as righteous anger. But it's no longer righteous if you nurse it. Being angry is a choice, the same with being happy. This choice should come from the inside.

Real, authentic happiness is right there for the taking. All that's needed is for you to decide today: I will be happy.

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