Happiness has nothing to do with pleasure

God's message to me today....
(from the Facebook application)

"You feel pleasure when you want something and you get it. Or when you don't want something and you remove it. Pleasure is always relative.
Happiness is absolute.
Happiness is the understanding and acceptance of life as it is in this very moment completely perfect, because every creation of God is perfect.
The degree to which you do not accept life in all of the Devine forms is the degree to which you suffer."

Situational anger, disappointment, frustration, despair, etc. are then self-generated. Those emotions are not pleasurable. Lack of pleasure makes us unhappy.

Unless...we are able to view the situation in a way that makes it simply what it is in that moment: perfect.
Neutral.
Not good, not bad. Simply, what is.

It is a matter of changing our perspective. Our thoughts about something (yes, Mr. N V Peale, I did pay attention to what I read!) determine our outlook about the moment. For example, if I go outside, get in my car and it won't start, I call AAA (or someone to come help me). I am told I will have to wait 45 minutes to one hour for assistance. I think...this is bad. I will now be late to work. My boss will be angry. I will be rushing all morning. My whole day will be "off".

Or will it?

What if I shift my perspective?
When I am told I will have to wait 45 minutes, I smile, knowing that I have suddenly been blessed with time to put the dishes away and fold the last of the laundry. I can return those few calls that I need to follow up on that I wouldn't have been able to get to until after dinner. I can sit and read the newspaper while catching the end of the morning news. This is good. And on thte news I hear that there has been a road closure on my route to work due to an accident. One that, I realize, happened exactly where I would have been driving on my way to work.
Perhaps I had been protected by this otherwise-perceived-misfortune.
Oh, how thankful I am.

All a matter of perspective.

I am happy. And it has nothing to do with pleasure!