Oprah Winfrey's Happiness Show

On January 26^th, 2011, Oprah Winfrey's television show was on the topic of finding happiness. How happy are you, are you doing everything to achieve your own happiness, and what you can do to increase your own happiness, were some of the discussion topics. Goldie Hawn, a star most remembered for the comedy variety show, "Laugh-In," was one of Oprah's guests. Goldie Hawn is iconic for her infectious bubbling laughter. Dan Buettner, a longevity and happiness expert, motivation speaker, and NY Times Best Seller, also appeared as a guest. His book, "Finding Happiness The Blue Zones Way," is available at book sellers everywhere.

After offering her audience and viewers a happiness quiz, with follow-up discussions, Oprah Winfrey summed her happiness show with her statement, "Things don't make you happy, experiences do." Oprah Winfrey's own happiness was increased when she recently found out she had a younger half sister, Patricia. Patricia was given up for adoption at birth by Oprah's mother and started a search for her birth mother in 2007. Oprah Winfrey presented her sister's story on Monday, January 24^th, 2011 on her television show.

Happiness is defined in Webster's Dictionary as having and experiencing great pleasure or joy. Oprah Winfrey's television show made me think about my own quest to achieve my happy destiny.

As a child growing up I wore a big smile in public, making the public believe I was happy. My smile was contagious. My friends considered me the girl who was always joking around, always happy. Being the only African-American family in my neighborhood and school, I often used that smile as a cover-up for a childhood often torturous, from public and family incidents. I believed if I kept a smile on my face I would make myself and my world happy. I failed miserably.

As an adult I have learned you and you alone can only achieve your own happiness by being true to yourself. The decisions you make and the people you choose to be in your life also support your personal happiness. Material objects and money make it easier to live, but neither can make you achieve your own happiness destiny. Just look at the excesses of sports figures and Hollywood stars, and often tragic results due to their excesses.

Rehab centers are overflowed with unhappy people who are searching the wrong way to feel a level of happiness. Alcohol, drugs, and food are used by people to feel high, feel good inside, all desperate means to achieve a sense of personal happiness. People want to reach a higher level of joy, bliss. "V," a sci-fi television series has the lead alien creature shower her people with something called, "bliss," to control them by making her subjects experience waves of peace and happiness. We as humans seek ways to achieve bliss to reach our own happiness destiny.

Again, happiness, according to Oprah Winfrey's guests, lies within you. You have to reach into yourself and make your peace with your own life before you can experience true happiness. Giving unselfishly of yourself can greatly increase your own happiness, instead of expecting people to fulfill that need. Not settling for a romantic partner just to have someone in your life will also help you achieve your own happiness. Taking time to reach for what you truly want out of life will help you climb to your happiness destiny.

Life and life's traumas can drag you down, but if you have your own sense of inner peace and happiness, you will find ways to overcome.

You can find out more about Oprah Winfrey's show and her, Happiness show, at her website link below.

http://www.oprah.com/oprah_show.html

You can find out more about Dan Buettner and his website, Blue Zones, at his website link below.

http://www.danbuettner.com/