The Pursuit of Happiness

Have you ever stopped to consider what it really takes to be happy? I've been pondering this idea lately. I've heard lots of answers. Some say lots of money, or owning the perfect assortment of things. (All of you studying for Step 1 probably just went through the cranial nerves, didn't you "some say marry money but my brother...") Anyway, focus for a second. I think the answer is not in the circumstances around you. You don't have to have money or health or family or a good job or certain posessions to be happy. I've seen people of all walks of life in all stages of health, etc and it didn't seem to change the optimism and vibrance of the people who chose to have positive attitudes. In my life I've seen the greatest happiness when there was the greatest combination of hope and grattitude. May 15th 2004 was definitely the happiest day of my life. I was so thankful for my parents who invested so much love and energy in me and for my sister who made the best maid of honor a girl could ever ask for and most of all for my groom, the most wonderful man I've ever known. And I was so full of hope for the future with him and for the difference we could make in the world together.
Over the course of my life however the greatest source of my happiness has been Jesus Christ. I cannot even quantify the amount of grace and forgiveness and love that He has lavished upon me in such a deep and personal way. My heart continually yearns to be closer to Him and to know Him more. My hope is so fixed upon His promises that it fills me constantly (like the reserve volume in the lungs). And so I have concluded that Jesus holds the deepest source of happiness because no one deserves more grattitude or offers more hope than He.