It is that time of the year again. The customary wishing of everyone to have a Happy New Year!
The word here being "Happy"!

If the forecast for the coming yer is to be believed, it may not be so happy after all.

Many expert have forecast that the worst has yet to come. With unemployment on the rise, retrenchment and the closing down of companies are on the platter, what is so happy about the new year?

Nothing! If the challenges for this year is not recognized. Some say it is impossible.

Fortunately, this is not necessarily the case.
Some studies have shown that wealthy people are no happier than the less well-off.
And the poorer chaps are sometimes even happier despite not having enough.

For those that are used to the life of abundance, the source of unhappiness is usually not being about not being able to have more. And more and more...
To them, "having" has no limit. Even though wealth can bring some form of happiness, it is usually a false impression that is short lived. What is worse is that it eventually leads to the belief that happiness can be bought. And the viscous cycle of toggling between happiness and otherwise will set in.
As such, these people are the first to suffer when the economy takes a turn for the worse.

In contrast, the other camp of people (the lesser well-off), have been trained all their lives to be focused more on their state of being rather than the having. They are thus able to better cope with what life has to throw at them without compromising their state of happiness. Which, unlike wealth, is limitless!
They have managed to organise their lives and needs in accordance to what they already have and what they can afford. They are also more aware of the efforts to sustain them.

So in this light, for them, "Happy 2009" is certainly more meaningful.