are you happy?

I've lived outside of the United States for more than 16 years. That's 40% of my life. Most of this time has been spent in countries that were not as "prosperous" as the U.S. I've often wondered what makes life "good." I've noticed that earlier on I often equated "happiness" with "material blessing," but over the years I've witnessed a "happiness" (our perhaps a peacefulness) with people that had little in the way of material things.

Recently I saw an interesting article on Yahoo: "The World's Happiest Countries". There were two lists compiled by the University of Michigan. The first list was compiled by asking individuals "Taking all things together, would you say you are: 1. Very happy, 2. Rather happy, 3. Not very happy, or 4. Not at all happy?"

The top five countries? 1. Nigeria 2. Mexico 3. Venezuela 4. El Salvador 5. Puerto Rico. Hmm, not exactly the wealthiest places on earth.

Another list was based on people's responses to the question, "All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?" Who were the top ten? 1. Puerto Rico 2. Mexico 3. Denmark 4. Colombia 5. Ireland 6. Iceland 7. N. Ireland 8. Switzerland 9. Netherlands 10. Canada. I scanned the list and found the U.S. at number 15 and South Africa at number 41.

Obviously, there was a lot more to the studies than these two questions, but this has made me think a lot about what makes me happy. I can talk a good talk when it comes to traditional "church" answers, but what truly sustains me and keeps me peaceful and enjoying life to the fullest? Again, throw away your preconceived ideas about what is "supposed" to make you happy (or joyful, if you must), and allow yourself to be completely honest before a God, who won't be shocked. I'm learning to allow him to meet me in the midst of this struggle and to lead me into deeper waters.

So, what makes you happy?