Solve For Happy

Solve for Happy Chapter One
Setting Up the Equation

It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, tall or short, male or female, young or old. It doesn't matter where you come from, what you do for a living, what language you speak, or what tragedies you've endured. Wherever you are, whoever you are, you want to be happy. It's a human desire about as basic as the drive to take the next breath.

Happiness is that glorious feeling when everything seems right, when all of life's twists and turns and jagged edges seem to fit together perfectly. In those often all-too-brief flickers of genuine happiness, every thought in your head is agreeable, and you wouldn't mind if time stood still and the present moment extended forever.

Whatever we choose to do in life is ultimately an attempt to find this feeling and make it last. Some people look for it in romance, while others seek it in wealth or fame, and still others through some form of accomplishment. Yet we all know of people who are deeply loved, achieve great things, travel the world, snap up all the toys money can buy, indulge in every luxury, and still long for the elusive goal of satisfaction, contentment, and peace-also known as happiness.

Why should something so basic be so hard to find?

The truth is, it isn't. We're just looking for it in the wrong places.

We think of it as a destination to reach, when in fact it's where we all began.

Have you ever searched for your keys only to realize they were in your pocket all along? Remember how you removed everything from your desk, searched beneath the couch, and got more and more frustrated the longer they went missing? We do the same thing when we struggle to find happiness "out there," when, in fact, happiness is right where it's always been: inside us, a basic design feature of our species.
Our Default State

Look at your computer, smartphone, or other gadgets. They all come with preferences preset by the designers and programmers. There's a certain