·Timothy·
What is the definition of“happiness?”Is it material wealth filled with fancy cars，a dream house，extravagant furs and jewelry? Or is happiness simply having a roof over your head? Food in the fridge? Having a child? A pet? A swimming pool? A designer Gucci bag? Parents? Grandchildren? Love? Money? The perfect job? Winning the Lottery?
According to the American Heritage Dictionary，“happiness”is derived from the Middle English word hap—meaning“Luck.”But does happiness really have anything to do with“luck?”Based on this description，one could assume that if you avoided a fatal traffic accident but got fired by coming late to work，you would be filled with “happiness?”Is it luck or what you make of it? Maybe，“happiness”is exactly defined by its indirect alias: happiness—perhaps，happiness is in fact defined by the fortune that we permit to happen.
Do you recall a time—let’s say when you were about 5 years old—what defined happiness back then? Was it getting a puppy for Christmas? Or maybe，you were a child of divorce；and all you wanted was for Mom and Dad to get back together again? Then as you got older，you were hoping that someone would ask you to the prom that would’ve made your day，maybe your life for the moment. During college，good grades made you happy，but it was short-lived. Because in the real world，you had to look for a job，and competition was stark. It’s an employer’s world you thought. But then，you got the perfect job—now you could be happy—or could you?
Life requires more than just what we want. Inevitably，one must understand to truly find“happiness，”he must make his own happiness“happen”. Sounds a bit redundant，but truthfully，there is no set guidelines that will bring one happiness. There is no“magic wand”we can wave to bring joy into our lives. Human nature thrives on the thrill of the chase. We dream and we hope for the next big break—it is the grand adventure of living.
We are hopeless creatures of comfort. We