What is joy to you? It can certainly take many forms. For one woman, it may be the sound of children laughing or the smell of puppy breath. For another, it's dancing in the moonlight or eating ice cream. For yet another, it could be a soothing massage or pedicure.

We often associate joy with the things and events in our lives that produce the warmest and fuzziest feelings of pleasure, but true joy requires no external stimuli. It's a state of mind that exists regardless of what's happening around you. Children can easily find laughter and joy in just being. I once read that children laugh hundreds of times a day. Goldie Hawn, who seems to have a perpetual giggling child inside of her, once said in an interview that all she ever wanted to be when she grew up was happy - just like she was as a kid. As an adult, she makes a conscious effort to pursue inner happiness through quiet meditation. Her inside joy is reflected in her outside life and work, including a documentary she developed called In Search of Joy and an organization she founded, the Bright Light Foundation, to help young people live more positive and fulfilling lives.

Bringing joy to others feeds our own happiness. If you grew up around my family, you'd know that food always brought us much joy - preparing it, serving it, eating it, or just talking about it. I remember a story my father used to tell me about a time when he was away from home in the Marines. One day, a package arrived from his mother containing a homemade blueberry pie. He was so excited that he and his comrades skipped the utensils, broke through the flaky crust with their hands, and shoveled the gooey mixture into their watering mouths. There was a look of sheer joy in my father's eyes each time he told that story. Later in his life, when he was dying of bone cancer, I personally carried a homemade blueberry pie on a plane from California to New York, just to see his face light up one last time. Even when people are dying, you can bring a little joy into their lives . . . and yours.

Joy can be accessed during both the happiest and most difficult times in your life, because it is present in your heart at all times. You have a place for it inside of you (which can be found) and a memory of it (which can be reproduced). Reaching into your store of joy is like going to the automatic teller machine and making a withdrawal of happiness. But unlike your bank account, there's an unlimited supply of joy to receive and share!

Abraham Lincoln said, "Most people are about as happy as they choose to be." As a goddess, it's your choice to use your joy, and your privilege to share it.

Five Ways to Choose Joy:

1. Recall a happy memory and focus on it long enough to bring back the feeling.

2. Laugh, smile, and joke whenever and wherever you can.

3. Call or see an upbeat girlfriend.

4. Take a break from TV news and violent shows and watch a romantic comedy.

5. Try to avoid negative or angry people.

This article is an excerpt from Debbie Gisonni's book, The Goddess of Happiness: A Down-to-Earth Guide for Heavenly Bliss. Copies are available at bookstores or online at: Amazon.com.

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