InnerSelf.com

"Happiness is a butterfly.
When pursued, it is always beyond your grasp,
but if you will sit down quietly,
it may alight upon you."
- N. Hawthorne

The Billionaire Report is out and Bill Gates is it, the richest man in the world. What does it mean to be rich?? How much money is enough??

This weekend I was touched by two events, one was participating in the World Laughter Tour in Boca Raton and the other the TV movie about Bill Gates and Steve Jobs (The Pirates of Silicon Valley – made for TV movie.). Both affected me and made me think... who is the happiest person in the world?

Several years ago, I was going along in my life making my simple life dreams come true, one at a time, adopting a child, becoming a writer, working with children - when my husband died. I was only 44 years old with a young son. Although my husband had been ill for many years, my life was totally changed in an instant.

Rebuilding was a process. I had gotten a computer to start a desktop publishing business so I could be home with my family. I sat for a year looking at this computer, playing solitaire and connecting with other widows and parents on-line. I finally started my business, and there I met Vanessa Vendola who had written a book The Seven Laws Of Laughter and wanted help bringing it to the world.

I became fascinated with the topic of laughter and we formed an organization called Laughter Unlimited. We had great plans for our concept, but the world was not ready for us. After a year we both went on to other projects, knowing that someday Laughter Unlimited would be revived.

People commented on our laughs and even suggested we record them. When people were around either one of us, they just had to laugh. We researched laughter, presented talks at health shows, went to humor workshops and conferences. We were inspired by Dr. Madan Kataria, who founded the laughter clubs in India. When I found out he was going to be here in person, I had to be there.

What happened was a powerful experience. I learned so much about laughter and how it helps people find inner peace, happiness, and even love. I learned that laughter is a physical act and humor is an emotional or mental act. Vanessa laughed so hard and I laughed with her -- Dr. Kataria could not even speak. He said that he has taught hundreds of thousands of people to laugh, but never had he laughed so hard until he experienced our laughter.

Sunday night I watched the story of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, the people behind the computers, who came to be American legends. I could only wonder what motivates people? I wondered what is the connection to wealth and happiness, if there is one? The Chevron Billboards portray a car with the message – Happiness – an inside job. How often is our happiness thought to come from a new car, a new love or some other external thing of event?

What is true wealth – to have happiness, richness of the soul and heart, money to fulfill one’s desires, to love and be loved. What is true happiness, how can it be truly measured? Is it measured by how many smiles we have a day, the satisfaction from our jobs, our lives, our family, our careers? What is true happiness – is it an inside job that we reflect to the world around us? It really is something to think about.

About The Author

Janet Lifshin is co-owner of Lighthearted Enterprises, Inc , a company dedicated to holistic healing and education. Lighthearted Enterprises manufactures Colloidal Silver and Oxycharge, Stabilized Liquid Oxygen. She and Vanessa Vendola have had three laughter parties and (by popular demand) are planning a laughter tape. Janet’s use of laughter for healing was mentioned on WPTV Channel 12 Health Report. Janet has also been asked to do laughing classes, a planned class is " Love, Laughter and Lifemates", how to find your soulmate and keep yourself. Janet can be reached at 561-478-8380 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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