The Secret to Happiness Is...

My mother, who always valued her independence, is now blind and unable to walk.

But she is usually content - except when she is in pain.

She has nothing but praise for the nursing home staff. And she praises the food...

Here she is, second from the right, participating in an exercise class.







Seeing my mother enjoy her limited life makes me wonder: What is it that makes us happy?

I recently read that "Happiness is reality divided by expectations." One study showed that people who lived on ventilators ranked their happiness at 5.1 on a scale of 7, whereas people breathing on their own ranked theirs at 5.5. (From the book, Leaving Church, chapter 10)

A recent Maclean's magazine article claims that the secret to happiness is to stop trying to be happy!

The article provided an interesting "happiness equation":

Want Nothing + Do Anything = Have Everything 

Is the key here to "want nothing"?

Does want mean to covet nothing, or to lack nothing? Or does it simply mean that you really appreciate all that you have because there is nothing more that you want?

By that equation, my mother, who lacks neither food nor care and still manages to keep busy (doing anything) feels she has everything... and is thankful!