This week, we post a new personal growth tip or inspiration drawn from a recent Daily Dose of Happiness mailing.

In the world of instant gratification, we are constantly being reminded of all the things we don't have that we absolutely cannot do without.  Nobody bothers addressing that it might be more than an evolutionary accident that we have survived for millennia without these things.  Nor that we should not be coveting the things we don't have, when we spend so little time feeling grateful for the things we do.

The more time I spend talking, reading and thinking about happiness, the more I am convinced that gratitude is the biggest secret to happiness.  And that the lack of gratitude is the single biggest barrier we as a civilization face on our path to happiness.

Further reading is my article at:
http://www.thehappyguy.com/happiness-secret.html , which is drawn from an anthology I contributed to (It's actually a fantastic book that's like the greatest hits of self-improvement).

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This week, we post a new personal growth tip or inspiration drawn from a recent Daily Dose of Happiness mailing.

"Rain, rain, go away.
Come again another day."

Everyone complains about the rain except the farmers...unless just too much falls.

But without the rain, there can be no plants.

And without the rain, there can be no animals.

And without the rain, we would have no well.

And without the well to drink from and the plants and animal to eat, there would be no people.  Before complaining about something, we should always think about the benefits it might be bringing.

So...let it pour!

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This week, we post a new personal growth tip or inspiration drawn from a recent Daily Dose of Happiness mailing.

Beware the vacuums...the human vacuums, that is.

There are people around us who are always taking.  They suck up our time and our energy, and they never give anything back.  They are vacuums.  Don't mix them up with people who are simply high energy and high interaction, taking much and giving much.

The vacuums can leave us with very little once they've sucked it all up.  If one of your close friends is a vacuum, watch out...you might already know what I mean.  You have to set some ground rules, most importantly to firmly say "no" when you don't want to go along with one of his or her plans.  That does not mean saying "no" all the time, unless you want to, just setting some limits and some boundaries.

Take control.  Switch off the vacuum.

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