It is a sad state of affairs when things have gotten so bad that we need to declare a “Happiness Happens” month in August.

How do you define happiness?

There is a Secret Society of Happy People that encourages the expression of happiness and discourages parade-raining. Parade-rainers are those who do not want to hear your happy news.

The Society wants to “help people recognize more happiness and encourage them to talk about it.” The desired side effect of this is contagious happiness.

It is not easy to define happiness. What makes me happy may drive another person to distraction. However, since the idea is to spread the word about happiness, I am pleased to share my happy things.

A beautiful sunset takes my breath away and makes me happy that I have witnessed one of nature’s many wonderful sights. Over the years, I have taken more sunset pictures than I can count. Now, sunrise is another thing. I have one sunrise picture. As a non-morning person, I do not usually watch the sun come up.

A young child’s smile brings happiness, particularly if the smile is meant for me by a member of my family. There is something so innocent and trusting about that smile. I see no reason to tell them that life is not going to be all smiles.

Having things in my universe in a happy alignment is always heart-warming. Sure, we all encounter some less than happy times, but when everything seems to be perking along the way it should; that is happiness. It would be a super-happy event if we could spread happiness to those who need it most. There is so much strife, violence, fear and hunger in the world. We cannot fix it all, but we could fix one person or family.

My family brings happiness to our home. We are fortunate to be able to enjoy life, and we do try to spread some of that good feeling around.

But let’s face it, many people will have a tough time telling you what happiness means to them. Asking a few questions may help:

What was your happiest moment recently?

What song makes your toes tap?

What TV show makes you laugh?

What is your favorite childhood food?

Who makes you smile just thinking about them?

Where was your favorite vacation?

What is your favorite holiday?

If you find happiness tough to describe, here are 31 other words that might help get you to a more positive state: amaze, amuse, anticipate, borrow, celebrate, cheer, compassion, contentment, delight, enthusiam, exuberance, fun, give, gladness, gratitude, hope, humor, inspiration, joy, love, nostalgic, optimistic, peace, play, relief, satisfaction, spirituality, spontaneity, surprise, sweetness and vitality. Share any of these feelings, and you will add happiness to both yourself and someone else. An idea like that could catch on!

We have a tattered copy of the Charles Schulz book “Happiness is a Warm Puppy,” which is one of my favorites. It lifts my heart just to leaf through it and smile at the pictures.

Happy Happiness Month!

E-mail Robson at info@outreachnc.com.