What makes you happy?

This is in response to Chris's previous post. I have spent a great deal of time this semester examining myself, who I am and where I want to go in life. One of the significant challenges I have found is incorporating everything for which I am passionate. I love being and working outdoors. I also greatly desire and feel morally obligated to help people. I could easily work as a divemaster in many locations around the world. However, I feel a life of this nature would be very self-centered as the motivation to be a divemaster is personal pleasure. Whereas if I work in a hospital or abroad with the World Health Organization, although I am sure these positions would also be rewarding and enjoyable, the primary motivation would be to help others.
In an interview yesterday, I was asked: what most makes you happy?
I was actually excited to provide my answer when I found myself lost for words. At the time the only thing that came to mind was helping people. Helping others brings me a lot of happiness whether providing a listening ear to a friend or caring for a patient in the hospital. I find caring for others to be extremely rewarding. This was a motivational factor for becoming a RA and pursuing a nursing career.
What else though? What on a day to day basis makes me happy?
Trying new things or visiting new places. Feeling challenged. Being outside. Engaging in meaningful conversations. Doing physical labor with my hands. Those things make me feel alive.
The scale of things doesn't matter either, as I have found satisfaction on a variety of levels. What I have come to discover is that a regular, daily stream of little things almost makes up for the lack of constant immersion. I may not be little in a foreign country and culture but I find immense joy in cooking a foreign recipe or conversing with someone different from I.
How do I combine those things that make me most happy into a job and a lifestyle? I don't want my job to be "work" I want it to be apart of who I am. I never want to dread getting up for work in the morning.

One of other greatest challenges I face daily, and I feel like Chris discussed this, is learning to be happy where you are. It is easy to get caught up in future plans, and envision life after you graduate or after med school or after you get a job. There are always going to be things in your life that you would rather change and there will always be something that you are striving to reach or achieve. The best way I have found to combat this thinking is self-awareness. When I find myself unhappily longing for something more or better or different, I try to thoroughly think through the issue and why I feel that way, then examine possible solutions and either do something or find other positive things to focus on. Certainly easier said then done. For example, I cannot wait to travel and live abroad and nurse people back to health in the African bush. However, that is currently unrealistic. I do not have the experience or resources but look at what I do have. I am about to graduate from a good university with a good degree. I am more fortunate then hundreds of millions around the world. I have a world of possibility. Yes, perhaps I cannot work for the United Nations now but I can start my career in a good hospital and perform very rewarding work.
You are in control of your future and your happiness. If you are not happy, discover what does and do that.

As cliche as this sounds, you can always sing in your head as I have come to do:
"Don't worry about a thing, cause every little gonna be alright"