What is happiness

and where is it coming from ?

My strong believe is that happiness comes from within. If I am not happy I can't give to others what I expect in return like a smile love, appreciation and much more.

Before I left Germany I sometimes took walks into the City and on my way I greeted strangers , simply smiled and wished them a great day but it was rarely reciprocated. When I walked to the cashier in a big store to pay for something I bought and were friendly and wished them a great day before I left I was stared at like I was from another planet and I have to admit it bugged me. It was one of the reasons I wanted to leave.

When I moved to The Bahamas one of the great experiences was, that everyone seemed to be happy ( on the outside I might add) but just getting a smile back was like a revelation.

I remember at one point I had to use the public bus due to the fact that my car broke down on me ...I went into that little bus to go downtown, then all of a sudden the driver and an older Lady beside me started singing !! A happy song and eventually the older Lady just clutched my hand and smiled at me while she went ahead singing . When I left the bus I was so uplifted, I can't describe it in words....

After living there for such a long time I adopted the attitude of being friendly no matter how you feel - fake it 'til you make it but every smile I send out, every nice word is coming back and it's wonderful !

Happiness comes from within ..It is what you make of things . You can have a bad day but try to smile at someone while you are in the middle of it and if you get that smile back it will make your day.

Nobody and nothing outside can give you happiness if you do not allow it to happen !

Give a smile and it will return to you, give a praise and lift someone else"s spirit which in return will lift your's

Happy day to you !