Then, this afternoon I logged into my Twitter account and had a tweet from Carrie Wilkerson spreading the happy virus by asking people to tweet what makes them happy. You can see my what I posted here.

I’m really loving seeing all this focus on being happy. It’s so much nicer than watching everyone be stressed out and worrying about things that are so totally out of our control that it’s a waste of time and energy. It’s not only living proof that what you focus on appears in your life, it’s almost making me really happy to see so many other people too!

It’s probably a sign of how far I’ve grown, but I just don’t get it. Either that or I’m extremely naive, and while I may act like a big kid, I’m pretty sure I’ve been around the block enough times to know what’s what. And I still don’t get it… How can you not be happy when everything’s covered in a fresh blanket of white, you’re out with your family, and you’ve got money to spend or at least enough of a balance on the ol’ plastic to give your kids a Christmas?

That trip really got me thinking about what it takes to be happy, and how do we go about finding happiness in our lives.

I think that too many people have forgotten that happiness has to come from within. It’s not about how much money we have or how many cars are in the driveway or whether you’ve got a 42 inch plasma screen on the wall. Sure those things are nice to have, but they can’t make you happy in and of themselves.

I read something the other day, and for the life of me I can’t remember where, but it was that maybe we should be searching for inner peace and a sense of contentment with life as it is now, instead of that all-to-elusive happiness. And that really resonated with me. (If anyone knows who wrote this, please leave a note in the comments with a link. I know it was on a blog but I can’t remember whose it was and I’m really sorry for that.)

So how do we find that sense of contentment?

Well, we can always start with decluttering. Give away the crap that we’ve bought to make us happy, that really doesn’t even come close. Or sell it on ebay and pay down the balance on the plastic with the extra cash.

Another thing that can make us happy is doing something nice for someone else. But think hard before you do a random act of kindness for a stranger. Gretchen over at The Happiness Project has a really good post on why you shouldn’t be doing random acts of kindness, and it’s generating a lot of discussion.

Finally, you can, and should, find something to do that you love and can totally throw your energy into. And if you need more ideas, Marelisa at the Abundance Blog has a great post on tips for being joyously happy.

Oh, one more thing… Go ahead and smile! Your face won’t break, and you might actually like it.

Your comments and feedback make me happy. Please leave one and tell me what makes you happy. Go on… I dare ya