As I walk along..

A newly acquainted friend once asked me why I was so happy. The question caught me by surprise. So I asked him why he asked that question. He said that he had been observing me wearing a smile all morning. I ponder for a moment and thought there was really no special happy occasion happened or about to take place. So I replied that perhaps I just felt happy for no special reason.
After that, I gave the issue a hard thought. Must there be a special occasion or joyful event to trigger happiness in people? Are such occurrences as receiving a present, a birthday celebration, an outing, passing of an examination, obtaining a job promotion or even striking the lottery and many others, important ingredient in making a person happy? How many times have we heard of people saying “why can’t you make me happy?” or phrases like “why can’t you do something to make me happy?” Looking around, I noticed that many who are surrounded with richness and the luxury of life are feeling unhappy. So is there anything others can do to make these people happy?
When I wake up each day, I see the sun just rising. I can hear the birds singing. So I thought, what a magnificent day. I look forward to the day and the challenges ahead. Perhaps these are the very basic things that make me happy. Perhaps these are the very basic things that those unhappy people overlooked.
There is a choice here. We can choose to be happy or we can choose to be unhappy. We do not need a special event or special happening to enable us to be happy. We should be happy for what we are. Happiness comes from within us, not from outside us.