Why do people go through life looking for happiness? Dogs and cats look for food and comfort, but they certainly don't go to all the trouble that people do in their continual search for happiness. I suppose the reason is that we are the only ones who can align ourselves with the hado of happiness.

Many years ago, I had a discussion with Dr. Ravi Batra, a well-known international economist, and he said something that has stuck with me:

Why do you think people continually search for happiness? The reason is because we people have a link to unlimited existence. But many of us make a serious mistake. We set up conditions for happiness based on riches and fame, momentary pleasures, and things that are limited and always changing.

There are those who are rich beyond most of our imaginations, and yet they continue to want more as they strive in vain to find happiness. The reason it's in vain is because they are looking to find unlimited happiness in limited money and riches.

Unless we can become one with the unlimited existence, we will never find true happiness. This requires that we raise our consciousness.

All that can be seen with the human eye is of this limited world. Sooner or later, the material trappings will end, and as long as that is how we define happiness, our hearts will always feel hollow.

Of course I understand that casting aside all desire is not possible or even advisable. In fact, desire is not what's preventing us from finding happiness. An appropriate amount of desire is needed to make people strive for something better, and it's what made it possible for human society to rise to its current level. The problem arises when we become slaves to our desires. Our modern society operates on the ability to stir up desire in the masses.

It's no easy task to find happiness in a society established on insatiable desire. So what is it that we need to do to escape never-ending desire and find happiness? The answer is to have a thankful heart.

More than ever, we live in a time when love and appreciation is truly needed. And I think the right ratio for appreciation and love is 2:1 -- the exact ratio of hydrogen to oxygen in the H2O molecule!

We have seen where words of appreciation and love result in crystals of indescribable beauty. There are no conditions needed for appreciation. We can be thankful for life and for our freedom to move about.

When you align your soul with the hado of appreciation and love, a small drop of happiness will seep into your heart and spread throughout your body. This will link you to the vibration of happiness, and happiness will become a part of your daily life. And this is the secret for finding happiness right now wherever you are.

Reprinted from The Secret Life of Water by Masaru Emoto. Published by Atria Books. December 2005; $22.95US/$31.50CAN; 0-7432-8982-X. English translation copyright © 2005 by Beyond Words Publishing, Inc., and Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Author:
Masaru Emoto is an internationally renowned Japanese researcher and an independent thinker. Certified as a Doctor of Alternative Medicine from the Open International University, he is also a graduate of the Yokohama Municipal University's department of humanities and sciences, with an emphasis on International Relations.

Masaru Emoto's research has visually captured the structure of water at the moment of freezing, and through high-speed photography he has shown the direct consequences of destructive thoughts and the thoughts of love and appreciation on the formation of water crystals. The revelation that our thoughts can influence water has profound implications for our health and the well-being of our planet.

Masaru Emoto has written many books, including the New York Times bestselling The Hidden Messages in Water and The True Power of Water.

For more information, please visit www.masaru-emoto.net