Specifically in the area of relationship, we have the potential to be happy with the people
that we are with, whether it is a partner, child, parent, co-worker or friend. Our happiness
does not depend on something they do or say to us, or our ability to change them. Our
happiness lies in how we deal with the present moment, whether we are resentful, guilty,
afraid, angry or simply grateful. It is the gratitude that can bring us right into the present
moment, and open the door for happiness.
I have known most of these 14 teenagers since they began their education together in
kindergarten. If they were to come to our home to ask me the question of what brings
lasting happiness I would answer quite simply. For me being aware of the potential to be
grateful in any given moment has brought me so much happiness. In the act of being
grateful, I feel connected to an energy higher and more expanded than my own human
mind. In the act of being grateful I feel loved.
Perhaps the worst time of my life was when I was 20 years old and lay dying in the
Columbia University Hospital, where I was a nursing student. I had septicemia and a
spiking 106 degree fever of unknown origin. I lay packed in ice, with all sorts of tubes
being inserted into me.My clothes had all been removed and I lay fully exposed as medical
students, residents, and top medical doctors came and went from the room. Before I
