Somehow that one quotation touched me deeply and within an hour of reading it, I had shared it in my Facebook’s profile, with groups and friends. If there is a way to reach out to all people in the world, I would be doing it happily. Such a simple and direct thought, yet it can truly benefit us.

Gratitude is a positive thought that can empower the mind. In good times, it keeps us in check and remind us to share our blessings by giving unconditionally, without expectation to people around us and to the less fortunate. In bad times, Gratitude is probably the next best companion, besides support from family and friends.

In fact, there would be times when even our family and friends might not be there to root for us. However, like a loyal servant, Gratitude is always there; it is patiently waiting for us to summon it and ever ready to serve us. It works with us and give us the strength to get back on our feet during bad times. When life hits us with bricks on the head, it gives us the faith to move on and positively change our perspective of the situation.

I am consciously reminding myself to count my blessings especially when times are bad (I should be doing it even in good times), so that I can instantly re-frame my mind to be grateful for what is happening and to learn from the situation; sometimes it can be effortless but at times it can be a real challenge.

But like muscles in our body, which we need to work out regularly to make them stronger, we also need to regularly work out on counting the blessings; the more we do it, the better we get at tapping on the positive power of Gratitude.

Some of us will question, “How could one be grateful for the natural calamity which happened to one? The lost of loved ones, the lost of properties, the pain and suffering one went through!” However, we had witnessed how some of these strong individuals had re-bounced instantly, put asides their own lost and miseries, to reach out to others. I couldn’t hope to speak or know what was at the back of their mind, but I believe the feeling of Gratitude was one of the inner strengths within them.

However, we have very often heard from many who had near death experience to find new meaning in life and they become greater beings. Had you personally fought with cancer or knew of someone around you who did and triumphed over it? What was going through your mind? I couldn’t hope to speak anyone’s mind too but I believe there was definitely a feeling of Gratitude; the gratefulness to be alive.

I, too, am grateful to be alive and sharing with you the above quotation by Charles Dickens, “Reflect upon your present blessings…” As you were reading this, what were the blessings which came across your mind? Please feel free to share your blessings with us.

Scientifically, happiness has been said to be related to the Serotonin level in us. “Of the approximately 40 million brain cells, most are influenced either directly or indirectly by Serotonin. This includes brain cells related to mood, sexual desire and function, appetite, sleep, memory and learning, temperature regulation, and some social behavior,” according to Xing.com.

In so speaking, is Serotonin the answer to all our unhappiness? The answer may not be as straightforward since we cannot simply inject a dosage of Serotonin into the body. Fortunately, according to an article in PubMed Central, the author mentioned that the possible approaches to increasing Serotonin are exposing to bright light, exercise and through our diet. I would leave you to explore that further on your own while I go on to disclosing what I thought to be the secret of happiness that we all know.

I read an interesting article recently by Belinda and she mentioned, “Have you ever looked up quotes on happiness by great thinkers? If not, I recommend you don’t. It won’t make you happy. It might even depress you.” I tend to agree with her to a large extent as you can find numerous quotations on happiness. And who is right or who is wrong? It truly differs from person to person; what makes one happy may not work for another. It can certainly be confusing with so much information we have accessed to. What I would like to point out is for you to select what works for you and fuse it into your own system.

However confusing it may be, I found that most of the quotations on happiness, which I adopted for my personal usage, all point in the same direction:

“No one is in control of your happiness but you; therefore, you have the power to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to change.” - Barbara de Angelis

“What we call the secret of happiness is no more a secret than our willingness to choose life.” - Leo Buscaglia

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” - Mahatma Gandhi

It is all about YOU! It is the being we are seeing every time we look in the mirror. The secret of happiness is really no other than ourselves! The next question to ask ourselves is, “How can I be happy?” As indirect as it may seem, to be happy is simply choosing to be happy and making conscious choices in all areas of our daily life to be happy.

In a world where the only constant is change, we have always been talking about changing the world and people around us. However, not all have realised that for change to take place, they must first change themselves. Do not seek without what we can find within. If we start out with the perception to change the world, then we would fail badly. But if we start by changing ourselves, the change in the world would come naturally and inevitable.

In the short film which I am sharing with you, the boy may not know the above quotation by Gandhi or wouldn’t know that he was applying what Gandhi mentioned about being the change. It was a natural instinct that we often see in children; the ability to see things in a simple manner. We adults often complicate things while trying to come out with the best solution. He started out to be the change and in the process, he inspired others to follow suit.

Starting to be the change we want to see in the world, we would also inspire change in the world which comes from within each individual. Children are our best hope of positively influencing the world to love and care for each other. To put aside differences and to focus on the similarities. Before that, we are still the prime influencing force affecting not only our children but the future of the world that they will be living in.

Most adults on the other hand have the ability, through learned experience, to differentiate people who are genuinely sincere and good from those who are not. This is one of the reasons, and a valid one, why parents find it necessary to protect baby from people who are not genuinely sincere and good.

In the process of growing up, the child will see, hear and pick up hatred we show to others along the way. We too had unconsciously learnt to hate from our parents and people around us; not that they wanted to teach us to hate on purpose, but through their words and actions, we imitated them until at such time that their words and actions become part of ours too. We eventually ‘pass’ these words and actions to our children. This is a vicious cycle that will stop only by consciously teaching our children to love people from the heart.

However, in order for us to be fitting to teach our children to love, we must first learn to love like them. Did I just contradicted myself? It makes sense actually. We need to first learn to love people indiscriminately and with an open heart from them. Then we lead by example to love people indiscriminately and with an open heart. A challenging thing to do but so is anything worth fighting for.

Through conscious teaching of ourselves and our young ones to love, I believe that one day most, if not all, of us will be loving people.