What does it mean to be happy? And if you lose happiness, can you still get it back?

Traveling around the world, I have seen people who live in circumstances less desirable than mine. And the people I have met who live in those circumstances are happy. But how could that be?

• Decide.

• Accept.

• Be thankful.

• Decide.

Happiness, or contentment, comes from accepting the present - the here and now. To be able to say, "here, at this moment, I get to choose how I will be." And then, to choose to be thankful that you had the ability to say that.

1. Decide that you will accept your circumstance.

2. Accept your circumstance.

3. Be thankful that you got to accept your circumstance.

4. Decide what you will do next.

Sounds too good to be true? Of course it is!

• Who wants to accept that life didn't pan out the way you wanted?

• Who wants to accept that a loved one will not be spending major events with you anymore?

• Who wants to accept the moment we're in as a society/culture/human race?

• Who wants to accept that your family members may not want to spend time with you during the holidays?

• Who wants to accept that they're getting older?

• Who wants to accept that they're failing?

The answer is, "not many."

And that's okay - also, not many people are as happy as they could be now.

So what will you do?

• When you next experience that deep melancholy, will you rise to meet and accept it?

• Will you decide how you want to deal with it?

• Will you be thankful that you got to decide?