smiling makes you happy. you can induce happiness by smiling. I learned that personally back in my waitress days.

So smiling begets smiling?

It's like passing along a fire from one torch to another. Cool.

LAUGHING makes me immensely happy.

Can you laugh without smiling?

I can't.

I don't believe anyone can, Geege.

Villains?

Actually, all of these villains are smiling as they laugh: http://pandawhale.com/convo/7534/maniacal-laugh-gifs

"Put Money Low on the List

People who put money high on their priority list are more at risk for depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem, according to researchers Tim Kasser and Richard Ryan. Their findings hold true across nations and cultures. β€œThe more we seek satisfactions in material goods, the less we find them there,” Ryan says. β€œThe satisfaction has a short half-lifeβ€”it’s very fleeting.” Money-seekers also score lower on tests of vitality and self-actualization."

Right, but we need some money to live.

We just need to not let it be the only goal or even the main goal.

Gratitude has long been closely correlated with happiness, from gratitude to god/life/etc to gratitude to other people.

It's easy to be grateful when I'm happy.

It's not as easy to be grateful when I'm unhappy.

So I guess the key is to maintain -- not let myself get too unhappy.

no, the key is to act AS IF you were happy, and you will become happy. that's what's amazing.. if you smile, you become happy. if you stop and say thank you, you become happy. happy doesn't lead, it follows. And that is what science has discovered that is so amazing. You can be happy be acting happy.

There's a tension between being and becoming.

If I hear you correctly, we can become happy by being happy.

That sounds like magic.

You act happy as you put one foot in front of the other. Eventually, you arrive at true happiness.