What does it take to make you happy...

Better yet, how much does happiness cost? Well, that depends on each individual. I have learned that if you expect a whole lot from life or from individuals in your life, you are open to much dissapointment. While if you expect little or nothing from life or others, than you may be in for a surprise or two.

Just think about it for a moment...when you have your heart set on recieveing a certain gift, nothing but that will satisfy you, no matter if the gift or gifts you recieve are far more expensive than what you wanted, it fell short of making you happy. So, the cost of an item is not what makes it the right gift or surprise. In fact, in many cases the item is hated or just put in a corner or closet where it can't remind you of what you really wanted and expected.

Believe it or not, you don't have to express your dissapointment, the giver will clearly notice that they fell short of making you happy.

Now, if you are the kind of person that does not expect anyone to go out of their way for your happiness, then little things done in your behalf will make you and the giver happy. I have become like this in my life. I don't expect anything from anyone, cause no one owes me anything. If I want something bad enough I save up and I buy it for myself. I am being perfectly honest when I say that I actually feel uncomfortable recieveing gifts. I enjoy giving when I can, but never expect anything in return. Which brings up another issue, if you give expecting to be given something in return you are setting yourself for dissapointment. Let's say that for your friends birthday you go and spend a good amounnt of money on gifts for your friend and you are expecting that when your birthday comes around you will recieve in like manner the same value in gifts? Wow, how upset you become if you don't get any gifts at all from that person, or what they got you doesn't meet up to what you got them. You see how now the joy of your giving and recieveing has been taken away by your own expectations?

I don't know about you, but I would rather be pleasantly surprised than to be all upset and make others hurt because of my unfounded expectations. So the answer to how much does it take to make you happy, well it completely depends upon you and you alone. Not on the giver or the value of a gift. In fact you can be very happy with just what you already own. Happiness should not depend on how much you own or how much money you have saved up. In fact those things without love and family mean very little. There are countless stories of real people with many possessions who were never happy, they would have gladly given it all up for happiness. So, think about it, what does it take to make you happy...