Are You Happy?

I love watching Oprah, and will really miss it when it ends this season.  I saw an episode today that made me really think.  I respond very well to self-help advice, anyway.

Goldie Hawn was talking about being happy, and studies have shown that you can make yourself happy by about 46%.  Outside influences and genetics make up the additional 54%.  I was pretty surprised by that because I always thought that you pretty much are as happy as you WANT to be.

Michael Buettner, who authored Thrive: Finding Happinesss the Blue Zones Way, was on the show.  He listed four things which are the most important things to being happy.

-  Are you married to the right person?

-  Do you like your job, is it engaging work?
-  Do you volunteer in some way that makes you believe that you are giving back to the community?

and the number one happiness factor

-  Do you  live in the right place?

Just something to think about.