Being Happy on Earth

Everyone wants to be happy, though we do not always know what will make us happy. What we think will make us happy, often does not. As a result, we get disappointed and often end up being more unhappy. Ironically, most of us seem to have something to say about happiness, as if we are great experts at it. As I think more about it, may be we all are great experts at happiness. We have certainly managed to stay happy even while our home has been tearing apart. The home I am referring to is our planet - the Earth. Climate change caused by our emissions, heavy deforestation, and sheer bad habits has already weakened the foundation of our home in several corners. "Why should I care about those corners? I don't even live there or use them. My room is fine," seems to be our strategy of staying happy. Alas, we don't realize that when the house comes down, it won't matter whether our room seemed fine or not. According to NASA climate scientist James Hansen, we just have about 8 years left to start cutting — and not just slowing — the amount of carbon we’re emitting. If we fail, we will have to learn to live in a wreckage.
Unlike many self-help gurus, I am not an expert on happiness, but I know that I feel very happy when I am useful. If feeling useful makes you happy as well, then there is no better way to be useful than to be to our family (mankind) and our home (the earth). And let's not wait too long to be useful, lest it be too late. Then all we will be left with are feelings of guilt and uselessness.