Happiness comes more from an attitude of gratitude than from unrelenting abundance. Happiness comes from a choice to be grateful. If a typical person were asked to describe their vision of ultimate happiness, it might include luxury and leisure. But research suggests that the novelty of such riches wears off quickly. William Lyon Phelps Happiness, as it turns out, has less to do with what we have than in the opportunity to work and contribute.
Productive activity is one of the most dependable sources of human happiness . . .
Desserts have their place, but the mainstay of any happiness diet is productive effort, developing and exercising skills, doing something that needs doing. Sometimes we foolishly imagine that a life replete with . . . Happiness is more likely to be found in the workshop than in the mall. It is not surprising that latter- day revelation portrays heaven as more of a bustling workshop that a retirement community. It is clear why shopping can become an addiction.