Happiest State in the USA to live in…

Is IT Just ME, or do you, too, love all-conclusive surveys – in which you have never been asked to participate?

One caught my eye today…

Q:  What is the happiest state in the USA to live in?

A:  Well, despite the fact that California actually came in at # 18 out of 50, the group behind the survey seemed hell-bent on promoting California as #1.

California provides an almost buffet-like sampling of possible climates in the United States.  Running a good length north and south on the Pacific coast, it provides many options, diverse neighborhoods, an assortment of architectural design, pockets of style and culture, to name but a few of its attractive qualities.  Of course high taxes, unemployment, and a bankrupt treasury are not the least among what many associate with “The Golden State”.

Let’s think on the grand scale…sorry, Alaska…we’re thinking even grander….

Is being in ANY particular place what really makes you happy?  Don’t you think those who have only lived in such places as Hawaii, Bali, Shangri La, etc, come to take things for granted?  Oh, my, another gorgeous, postcard-like day!

Why does someone living in other person’s version of paradise travel to a city such as London, Paris, New York?  Is it for the love of walking in the rain, crowded attractions, or waiting on lines that charm people to travel half-way around the world?

Not at all!  It’s the thrill of imagining what the experience would be like.  It’s about fulfilling a fantasy or crossing something off a bucket-list.  It’s about the experience that exists in the mind and the capacity of the mind to perceive things beyond what is reasonably possible or may ever come to pass.

AH!  That’s it!   The happiest state in which to live is your own STATE OF MIND!       

Yes…the ability to control your thoughts, your imagination, to define your own realm of possibility, then to have the right to simply enjoy the view in your mind’s eye - OR to act upon it….to move perceptions into realities – or at least real experiences for having tried!   WOW…..

Never underestimate the powerful being you are.   The only thing you cannot achieve is what you decide you are not capable of.  In that moment, you are underestimating yourself.  You were designed and engineered for greatness – and so you are great.

So, IS it just me, or do you feel that what we require to be happy is truly already within us; we just have to be willing to see it.

        Hey, California, “…you’ll be back!”

(and we’ll visit)