What Does it Take to Reach True Happiness? ·        What Does It Take To Reach True Happiness?   In order to live a happy and peaceful life, we need to learn ways to achieve and meet our needs and goals in an ethical and healthy manner; we need to receive sound affection, we need to be accepted and respected for who we are, we need to be able to meet our basic needs (material, emotional, spiritual, professional, etc.), we need to feel we can reach our goals in life successfully, and achieve every task we carry on (study, work, career, etc.) without feeling threatened by others.    We can live a happy and fulfilling life without “paying a high price” for it. We can live a happy life without “manipulating other or letting others manipulate us”.     “Living a Happy Life is a Personal Decision”.     Life is a series of ongoing choices and options.  Sometimes, we have more choices than other times.  Each choice we make, each decision we make, has consequences. Some are more favorable than others and some may be rather unfavorable.  Hence, it’s important to learn to find some balance and understand that when our expectations and ambitions are realistic, we have fewer chances to feel frustrated and manipulate others or let others manipulate us.   All of us are capable to choose not to get involved in or be part of emotional abuse.