Wayne Dyer opens with his central, title-giving thesis: happiness represents an ongoing way of engaging with life — the journey itself — rather than a fixed destination to be reached after achieving specific external goals or circumstances.

Why this journey-versus-destination framing matters:

• Treating happiness as a destination contingent on achieving specific future circumstances postpones genuine present-moment wellbeing indefinitely
• Dyer argues for cultivating happiness as an ongoing practice and orientation toward life, available now rather than only after achieving some future condition
• This foundational reframing motivates the book's subsequent practical guidance for cultivating this present-moment happiness orientation

This opening establishes the book's foundational philosophical premise, distinguishing genuine ongoing happiness practice from happiness contingent on achieving future external circumstances.