happiness in america

For class we had to read a chapter out of the book Thrive. The book is about happiness in America and also about happiness in other countries. In America we tend to believe that money buys happiness, but that isn't the case at all. Happiness comes from lots of other things like the community you live in, giving, family, friends, and your job. In the chapter we read it may not be realistic to do all the things to make you happy, because we cant just pick up and move our families to a happier neighborhood, but its good to keep these things in mind for the future. I've also learned a lot about how to be happy from my family. In the summer I stayed with my sister who lives in LA for a month. Living with her and her boyfriend showed me you don't need a ton of money to be happy. They just bought a house and it's a small old house compared to the houses in the Chicago suburbs, but they are happy with it because the neighborhood is nice and friendly. The backyard is nice and they started a garden, and they have two doggies that they walk and meet the neighbors. You can learn a lot about how to be happy from the people around you.