科学家对「快乐」做了一些研究，这些研究显示，人们以为能带来快乐的事物，其实不能令他们快乐。举例说，他们发现，结婚（或再婚）、生儿育女、迁住气候较佳的地方、加薪，或一个较强健的体魄，都不能带来快乐。
那么，学者们找到甚么快乐的秘方呢？他们发现到，原来培养一个感恩的心能大大改变一个人。事实上，从事研究的人发现，若能每天把值得感恩的事记下来，就是一个极为沮丧的人，他的心情也会很快好转。喜乐的人是懂得感恩的人。
快乐的秘方的另一要素，是去帮助正在受苦的人；无论是借着你每天的工作或做义工，帮助别人总能令你快乐。在膳食救济中心帮忙，探望被困家中的人，教导囚犯，甚至开一张支票，都能产生果效。帮助别人令我们感到快慰，这是一个不容置疑的事实。
当然这些是快乐的秘诀，而圣经早已教导我们要如此行。感恩是基督徒生活的要素，而圣经对信徒们的一个主要教导，是要他们去帮助那些有需要的人。问题是，就如传道书作者所见到的，大多数人到处寻觅快乐，但总不涉足真正能带来快乐的地方。
The secret of happiness
I know that there is nothing better . . . Than to be happy and do good while [we] live. Ecclesiastes 3:12
Scientists have studied happiness. Their research has discovered that things people assume will make them happy do not make them happy. For example, they learned that getting married (or re-married), having children, moving to a nicer climate, receiving more income, or having a better body do not produce happiness.
So what recipe for happiness did the scholars find? They discovered that learning to be grateful can trigger a dramatic transformation. In fact, researchers discovered that by keeping a daily gratitude journal, a person who is down in the dumps will start feeling better in a relatively short time. Joyful people are thankful people.
A second ingredient in this recipe for happiness is to help people who are hurting. Whether it’s in your daily work or through volunteering, helping others can make you a happier person. Serving in a soup kitchen, visiting someone who’s homebound, discipling a prisoner—even writing a check can make a difference. The plain truth is that when we help others, it makes us feel good.
Of course, the Bible has been teaching all this for eons. The essence of the Christian life is gratitude, and Scripture’s central call for Christians is to help others in need. The trouble, as the writer of Ecclesiastes learned, is that most folks are looking everywhere for happiness except where it can truly be found.
