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Someone I know once said to me, "I used to think I would be truly happy once I had published a book. When that didn't do it, I realized what would truly make me happy was... a house." She was only about 80% kidding. We looked around her cluttered apartment at the time and nodded at each other.

Clearly, there was some easy key to life satisfaction. If it hadn't turned out to be some career goal being met, most likely happiness would turn out to be related to having the right real estate. This woman has since acquired a house and she reports that eternal bliss has not been achieved. "Ach, the basement is flooding!" she said the last time I saw her. What about the theory that here lay happiness? She claimed not to remember the conversation.

I'm now aware enough to know that it's too flip to say happiness lies in accomplishments or housing or the most chic raincoat that would make every outfit look perfectly pulled together...but...there must be some key to feeling sanguine, right? Here is the question filmmaker Roko Belic set out to discover in his soon-to-be-released documentary, The Happy Movie. Belic writes for The Huffington Post about his experiences making the film, and some of the intriguing things he learned about happiness. One of the happiest people he came across in his filming was a poor rickshaw puller in an Indian slum. Said the rickshaw puller, "When I return home and see my son waiting for me, and when he calls out to me 'Baba!' I am full of joy."

Belic reveals that "one of the leading researchers of happiness in the world, Ed Diener, at the University of Illinois" told him "that a person's values are among the best predictors of their happiness. People who value money, power, fame and good looks are less likely to be happy than people who value compassion, cooperation and a willingness to make the world a better place...People who express their love—who rejoice in the health and happiness of others— are more likely to feel loved and happy themselves."

People who express their love. Not the people who have the most, or even who are themselves the most loved. I feel both that we know this...and that we need to remind ourselves of it every day. Love someone today. It's easy. It feels good. And it's free.

Visit The Happy Movie site for more on the upcoming Happy Day, and for information on how you can see the sure-to-be-uplifting documentary.

Read More:
Let the Love In
A Pie Graph of Happiness
5 Things Happy People Do