Happiness can't be bought. It can't be traded or insured. It can't be planned or owned. It isn't a commodity or something tangible.

Happiness isn't a necessity. Not like water or air or food and shelter. It isn't a right or a given. Happiness is a feeling that comes to those who open themselves up to the simple pleasures of life.

I work with a woman who is happy when the sun is shining. She may not be out in it, but she draws her happiness from that shaft of light that comes through the glass door at work.

I get my sense of happiness from watching my children play basketball and the quiet of the morning when I have my cup of coffee. Sometimes I am just happy and I couldn't begin to tell you why.

I don't live in a bubble where I think nothing bad happens. All I have to do is turn on the television and see the violence that is going on in the world to know everything isn't all roses. Happiness comes to me despite that.

When I was little, my parents would always tell me I was lucky to have what I did. Being young and having friends who got almost whatever they wanted I didn't always buy what they were saying. But when my parents passed away, it hit me. I was damned lucky because I was healthy and loved and accepted for who I was.

Everyday I try to teach my children how lucky they are. Even though there are times when we have to sweat out mortgage payments and go to the food bank, we are lucky.

We are a family of five living on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and we have each others' backs.

Now if that ain't something to be happy about, I don't know what is.