That seems to be the theme for 2011.  Pick up any magazine on the newsstands today; everything from Real Simple and Oprah to Success and the Rob Report.  There are tips and tricks, lists to follow and exercises to try. There are ways to streamline your daily routine and ways to help you identify and attain your goals.  There are rules to happiness, definitions of happiness, in case you don’t know.  So much happiness overload! Do all of these things and you, too, can be happy!

I balk at these kinds of things.

The media would have you believe that no matter who you are, where you are and what you do, you’re unhappy.  I would much rather think that there are a handful of people out there trying to make a better situation out what they currently experience, but that most of us are doing just fine.  You pick up these magazines and what it boils down to is people telling you to make changes and voila! — Happiness abounds.

Call me cynical, but I don’t think it works that way.  Aristotle said that happiness depends upon ourselves.  When I think of my happiest times, it’s been when I’ve chosen to simply be in the moment as it unfolds in front of me.   I’m laughing over sushi with my brother. I’m watching my girls streak through my parents’ house in nothing but head bands and smiles. My husband cups my cheek in his hand, kissing me as though it’s the only thing he’s allowed to do.

That’s when I’m happy, no tips or tricks required.