Buying Happiness

As the saying goes, "You can't buy happiness." Wait a minute, I actually think you CAN buy happiness. It's easy if you have unlimited cash...vacations, fancy dinners, concerts, etc. The trick is to buy happiness on a shoe string budget; perhaps more challenging, but doable.
Happiness comes not necessarily from the money, but how certain acts make us feel. Being generous always makes me feel happy. It can be as small as adding change into some one's expired parking meter or paying for the coffee of the car behind you in the line at Starbucks. I find myself smiling as I drive away wondering what that person thinks and that maybe they will be kind to someone else today and keep it going.
Having an attitude of gratefulness makes me happy. I try to write thank you notes whenever I can. I feel good writing them and I assume the person who gets it also feels a little happier. Great skill to teach young children. You can't be angry, or upset at the same time you are feeling grateful.
Having people in your life, friends, mate, family can make all the difference on the happy scale. Any activity you do with someone else makes you happier as it strengthens the bond of your relationship. It's a proven fact that people who have stronger and bigger social networks are happier.
Physical activity has also been proven to increase happiness. They say that the feel-good endorphins released while you're working out makes you feel good, not only while you are doing, but for the next 12 hours as well. This includes activities such as meditation and relaxation as well as physical exercise.
All of these ideas cost very little and yet hold huge potential on the happiness scale. Let's all plan on buying a little happiness.