Peggy was a 44-year-old married mother of two teenage boys who works as the bookkeeper of the family business. Last year, both her father and her sister died, and her mother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

Noreen was a 52-year-old divorced mother of two college kids. She’s an avid swimmer and works in the operations department of a major airline.

Lachelle was 27 years old, married and has no children. She works two jobs and has two dogs. Last year, four of her friends and two of her family members died within six months of each other.

David was 53 years old, and he’s been a funeral director for 30 years. He is married and has two sons.

Lorrie has been married for 15 years and has six children. She works in retail and also serves as the vice president of her PTA.

The question Oprah posed to her audience was this: Can you tell by the appearance of these five folks who has the happiest, most fulfilling and satisfying life?

Peggy, David and Lachelle scored the highest on the satisfaction scale, while Noreen and Lorrie scored the lowest. Although their respective stories each involved deaths, personal tragedy, and dealing with death on an everyday basis, they have tapped into truths that seemingly evade others.

According to my psychology book, researchers have found that happy people tend to:

• have high self-esteem
• be optimistic, outgoing, and agreeable
• have close friendships and/or satisfying marriages
• have work and leisure that engage their skills
• have a meaningful religious faith
• sleep well and exercise

However, happiness (contrary to popular belief) seems not much related to other factors such as:

• age
• gender
• education levels
• money and/or worldly wealth
• parenthood (having children or not)
• physical attractiveness

In the today’s culture, where our validity seems to be centered on things we accumulate: money, possessions, relationships - I’m afraid that we’re missing out on what the real meaning of happiness is.

"Things" bring temporary elevated levels of adrenalin (not necessarily happiness) that tend to plummet as soon as we adjust to our new acquisistions.

A noted Dutch psychologist had this to say, "Continued pleasures wear off…Pleasure is always contingent upon change and disappears with continuous satisfaction."

So that new car, new clothing, new house, new relationship, may very well bring pleasure and contentment and certain levels of pleasure…for a time. But when "the new wears off" we need something deeper, more permanently grounded within our souls, if we are to be the joyful creatures that God intends for us to be.

I learned a long time ago, from a close friend, to practice the law of attraction. We can draw people, circumstances, and even certain "things" by daily practicing optimism, outward signs of joy (smile, even when you don’t feel it), and - most importantly - exercising that small mustard seed of faith.

Happy people attract happy circumstances. That doesn’t mean that illness, hardships, and tragedy never crosses their path, but it does mean that they are not shaped by the circumstances of their life. Instead they shape their life and bring meaning to those circumstances.

I’m thinking happy thoughts today. Practicing the law of attraction. Surrounding myself with like-minded people. Cherishing the relationships in my life that mean more than worldly wealth ever will. Clinging to a faith in God that has never failed me.

Yep, it’s official.

I’m a happy girl.