Many years ago when I was around 20 or so I remember reading the National Geographic magazine.  It was special back then and had great photos from around the world.  There was a story about a woman gathering rice in a rice paddy of Southeast Asia.  I remember the journalist asking this woman if she was happy.  Now the woman lived in a native hut made from local trees.  Her life had no running water or any of the conveniences we take for granted.  The journalist noted the puzzled look on her face when he asked her this question.  She answered that “being happy was something that happened between the time you were born and the time you died.” It happened.  It wasn’t a goal.  It wasn’t a state of mind.  It wasn’t analyzed.  It just happened.  Maybe the rice gathering was easier that day and it made her happy.  …