Free Essay On Happiness

True happiness can come from the most unexpected directions and not always arise from situations or events that you might expect, (such as having a lovely time on vacation or getting promoted in your job). Mine came out of what I thought was simply an act of charity on my part. I was surfing the internet and came across one of those animal rescue websites.
Then I saw Kali! She’s a long-haired German Shepherd dog, about a year old then, and had been found wandering the city streets with a chain around her neck that had worn away her fur leaving a ring of bare skin. Her coat was seriously matted and in the photo she had such a sad, sad expression with big, brown mournful eyes. Before giving it further thought I emailed the rescue center to find out more about her. It seems she had been badly treated and the rescue center had aptly named her Kali, as it is the name of a Hindu goddess – the protector of battered women. When they found her and took her in she weighed just 30 pounds, about half the weight she should have been, and also had a skin disease called mange, which meant the vet had to shave off all of her coat to treat it.
Cutting a long story short, I gave Kali a home about a month later, after she’d been treated and sterilized – standard for all rescue dogs. By that time her coat was just starting to grow back and her painfully thin body was just beginning to fill out a little. That first day was amazing! A very nervous dog cautiously investigated my house and her new home. I don’t think she’d been inside a house before nor ever been up a flight of stairs. She climbed those very slowly and came down again with some difficulty. I also was apprehensive; I hadn’t had a dog before and wondered how we would get on with each other. I needn’t have worried! Within two hours she was stretched out contentedly sleeping on the bed I’d bought for her, clutching a toy, and looked like she really belonged already.
Since then she has given me so much happiness! In the year or so we have been together she has become my faithful companion, never demanding more than food and shelter, and in return giving me total loyalty, love and affection. She loves to play, selecting a toy from her toy box after every mealtime without fail, and sits contentedly at my feet when I am working at my computer or watching TV. On the odd occasion she is naughty and I tell her off she offers me a paw by way of apology and those big brown eyes are saying “sorry!” I really hate having to go out and leave her (and she always knows when I’m getting ready to go out). She’s never chewed or destroyed anything while I’m out, and I simply can’t wait to get back home and to see my Kali again, knowing that she’ll be so happy and excited to see me, every single time. With proper care and food she’s grown to her proper weight (about 70 pounds now) but still tries to climb onto my lap! And her long coat is so beautiful and glossy. She attracts so many admiring glances and comments when I’m out walking her.
Although she really has changed my life (for example I’m reluctant to go on vacation and leave her in kennels), she really has brought genuine happiness into it, too. Every night (from that very first night about a year ago) she sleeps by the foot of my bed, and always sleeps the whole night through, ready to go out on her first walk of the day early the next morning, but waking me if I oversleep! She has given me so much happiness, and I just hope that by rescuing her and providing a safe and secure home, that I’ve done the same for Kali.