Zubaz, keep doing what you're doing.  You're right on the money, and the truth is, as long as you have a basic amount of money, happiness is more important, and more importantly very achievable.

You know the phrase "what you focus on is what you tend to get"?  I think you would.  Wonders and horrors abound in the world, but gentle happiness is available for a good many people.  If you are always looking for bad stuff, you will miss the good stuff.  Whereas if you focus on the good stuff, the bad stuff will not go away, but it will become less important, less overwhelming.  I think this is one of the great lessons in life.

The media likes to promote fear and power-mongering.  But you don't have to listen, and you are able to create gentle and powerful social circles that maximise people's happiness and contentment.  And life is truly about the journey, not the destination.  But some people just never stop to smell the beautiful roses!

I don't know if anyone's made this quote before, but if not, I make it now.  "It's not about the quantity of your experiences, it's about the quality of your experiences."  You can have a magical experience that lasts a few seconds and which you always remember.  Or you can have drudgery lasting years, with no purpose.  Yeah, it's nice to get more time on this earth.  But it is not a requirement for true happiness.

(Btw, I'm 31, 32 this year.)

Oooh I have the ultimate random positive thing:    srand!!!

Its C++ function prototype is:      void srand ( unsigned int seed );

Thus it's a random number generator that generates only positive numbers.   I win I win!

Can it generate positive numbers on green paper and be used to buy stuff. That would be cool.

In order of recollection--not importance.

1.  The beautiful exhausted girl who fell asleep on me on an airplane thirty years ago--even though I kept trying to wake her--and then when she woke several hours later lying on my lap didn't give me a dirty look but instead said thanks and squeezed my arm and lay up against me for the rest of the flight.

2. The two incredibly beautiful women at the Hawaii airport more than twenty five years ago who were passing out leis in native costume and both simultaneously kissed me--twice--followed with hugs and big, full eye contact smiles.  I'm still tingling.

3. Being ground zero on a large hill for a solar eclipse and watching the 1500mph+ shadow of the moon turning day into night right before my eyes.

4. Getting glasses at 12 and seeing the stars clearly for the first time in my life.

5. Getting a telescope a year later and staying out all night finding the rest of the stuff up there for the next four years.

6. The first time I ever recognized God speaking to me.

7. Seeing Blade Runner at the theater when it was completely unheard of.

8. Finding my step-father's several-hundred book science fiction library when I was seven years old.

9. My wife holding my hand on our third date.

10. My first dog.

The gloam

Probably but not a lot of merchants accept 7.51 dollar bills.

You may only see these events as random, but I differ.

Life presents us with opportunities constantly, some good and others not so good. Are we quick on the uptake or do we hesitate and let the opportunity slip by? Do you recognize a good opportunity from a bad one? If you don't recognize some of Life's opportunities then you're probably just not ready for it to happen for you. All the rest that we encounter is just filler to take up space until our next random event occurrence.

wokked chicken is my speciality, good choice Andy.

played raspberry kisses with my 10 year old.

snuggled with the wife.

Wife just got her 10 year award from work. expenses paid for two to the club med of our choice (we'll pay the extra for boyo)

That's a worry.

When did you marry her...on the first one? ...

There just aren't enough stars to give this list.

Wonderful, Sinperium. Made a BIG smile for me. Thank you.

Meeting this bloke was pretty 'positive'.

In case you're lost....the 'frog' is a clue....[I just HAD to take this photo..]....

Does he do ribbit jokes? Just asking.

Rofl...I was fighting the concept of getting married.  I was very happy living my own life and wasn't looking for marriage or even a regular girlfriend.  In part, I went out with her because I knew she really wanted to and I felt bad constantly ignoring it.

On the third date I finally loosened up enough to actually be "on a date"--and was surprised I really liked her and enjoyed it when she took my hand.  Go figure.

Thanks for the compliments everyone.

I heard he is very good,  but shhhhh he don't want too many people to know