Happiness: How to make it happen.

 My neighbour's dog Libby has this absurd little ritual when she wants attention. She jumps on their bed and starts spinning in circles, growling and barking like a possessed puppy until they join her on the side of the bed and unite in her madness. Satisfied that they are laughing at her silliness she settles for a pat in bliss. They in turn have a little gladness in their hearts that they adopted this hilarious little pooch who reminds them to stop taking themselves so seriously and act a little stupid when no one is watching. This to me is happiness.
 What is happiness to you? I’m asking because apparently the world is seriously lacking in happy hormones, the day-to-day grind is getting us down and depression is fast becoming an epidemic. In fact some research has shown evidence that in 2020 depression will outweigh cancer and diabetes as Australia’s biggest killer.
 According to Wikipedia, 3 things define happiness: 50% is gene related, 10-15% is socio-economic and 40% is based on our actions and choices to make us happy. So you don’t find happiness, you make happiness – and with 50% of the choice already made up for us, we have to grab the other 50% and squeeze it till the juice runs dry. Like they say, if you get lemons make lemonade and as much as you possibly can.
 Bindi Irwin was quoted back in July of 2009 on what makes her happy – she said she looked to her now-six-year-old brother for inspiration. Now before you assume that eating dirt and sticking rocks up her nose makes her happy, she said he takes one day at a time and doesn’t worry about the future.
 Now he can’t even spell future yet, let alone know the meaning of the word, but if we all lived a little more like Bob Irwin, life would be a little less stressful. Susan Welch, a Brisbane-based happiness coach, believes too many of us are worrying about what we will and won’t have in the future, who we will and won’t be spending time with and what we will and won’t be doing.
 Instead she believes we should look around at what we have right now and be grateful and appreciate what we are doing and whom we are spending time with. We should even be thankful for our troubles because they are helping to build our character.
 She also recommends spending more time helping others, especially those less fortunate than us, taking time to look each other in the eye and really connect and care for those around us and, above all, remember to take time to laugh, for at least 15 minutes a day. Seems simple enough, but ask yourself, have you done anything like that lately? I know I haven’t.
 In our quest for happiness and fulfilment, we often forget to relish the moments in between. As someone wise once said, the journey is as important as the destination and effort is as important as success. So take some time today and be grateful for the desk you’re sitting at. Do something nice and get your workmates their morning coffee. Read those funny emails and have a good chuckle. Let someone merge in the traffic and enjoy the grateful wave. Give the stranger in front of you in the grocery line a compliment and call someone you love and tell him or her how you feel.
 Write a list about what’s good in your life and carry it in your pocket to remind you that life is good right now. Because ultimately, happiness should be defined as your name not turning up in the obituary column.