Last night, laying in the most recent hotel bed, I was going through the pile of magazines that moved from my home to my backpack and this TIME cover story caught my attention.  The Happiness of Pursuit: Americans are free to pursue happiness, but there’s no guarantee we’ll achieve it.  The secret is knowing how-and where-to look.

My first thought was how lucky we truly are to be Americans and are free to pursue happiness.  I’m at a TWR Board meeting where we broadcast ‘Hope To The World’.  Places where people have to hide their radios and not share their thoughts in fear of persecution and potentially death.  But that is another blog.  Second thought was that I guess we are all really looking for happiness.  Some of us have it, and I’m one of the lucky ones, and others are desperately searching.  I personally find happiness in helping those who are searching.

Here are a few of the snip-its from the article. Take em for what they are worth…and that is one writer’s opinion, based on chosen research.

1. Kinship:
   1. Marriage does contribute to bliss; it’s a better predictor than having money or children.
   2. 80% of young people who say they have a good relationship with their parents are also happier with life in general.
   3. People who dwell on the past and future are less likely to be happy than people who concentrate on the present.
2. Work and Money
   1. A bad job is better than no job: previously out-of-work people are happier even if a new job has poor pay and hours.
   2. Workers making $150k are twice as likely to say they’re very happy as people making $20k.  (DUH!  Maybe 7 times)
   3. When people lose a job, their sense of well-being plummets, more from the loss of social status and self-esteem than from the lack of income.
   4. People who care about other people’s incomes are typically less happy with their lives.
3. Society
   1. Republicans are happier than Democrats; Republicans are also more likely to be married and religious.
   2. Though studies have found that women report being happier than men, that effect fades outside developed countries and in places with poor gender equality.
   3. Homeowners aren’t any happier than renters.  They are more likely to experience stress and pack on extra pounds, perhaps as a result.

QUOTES:

• ‘Happiness is not a goal, it is a by-product.  Paradoxically, the one sure way not to be happy is to deliberately map out a way of life in which one would please oneself completely and exclusively.’  Eleanor Roosevelt
• ‘Every man is a suffering-machine and a happiness-machine combined.  The two functions work together harmoniously with a fine and delicate precision, on the give-and-take principle.’  Mark Twain
• ‘Happiness is not to be achieved at the command of emotional whims.’ Ayn Rand
• ‘The only way to do great work is to love what you do.  If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.’ Steve Jobs

Personally, I believe all happiness, and success for that matter, comes with sacrifice.  If you or I didn’t personally make the sacrifice, than someone before us did.  Guarantee it.

As for work, I love my job…that is why I do it.