Bliss?

Nothing pisses me off more than the saying "ignorance is bliss."  It's just not true, and I'm sick of people thinking it's the smartest philosophy to live by.  Just hearing it or reading it sends a cold shiver slowly down my spine.
Ignorance, by definition, means "lacking in knowledge or training."  So for anyone thinking, "Oh, my daddy calls me ignorant, that's just him calling me stupid" - no it's not, you just have a lot to learn.
That being said, the saying "ignorance is bliss" means (to me, anyway) that life is a lot easier and happier when we don't know certain things.  However, there is a difference between wanting to know something and needing to know something.  Just as a few examples, I don't want to know that a close friend of mine is telling me I sleep around, but when it starts to ruin my reputation and my relationships with people, I think I need to know what's going on.  I don't want to know my grandmother's health is failing, but I'd rather know about it now than finding out at her funeral that poor Grandma was really sick and, since I didn't know about it, I didn't really have a chance to spend more time with her before she died.  I certainly don't want to know that my mother has cancer, but if she's going to more hospitals than I can count and has to shave her head for chemo, that's something I would like to know.
Obviously it sucks knowing my mom has cancer - the stress has put me through a lot of physical and mental pain as of late.  Stress can do a lot to people, including me.  Headaches that leave me bedridden, stomachaches that leave my head in the toilet, and nightmares that wake me up every hour or two.  But just because a lot of knowledge is hard to take, it doesn't mean we should never be deprived of it.  How else are we supposed to grow as individuals?
Enough of my whining, back to the whole "bliss" thing.  Bliss....Happiness...Not to sound cynical, but is happiness always genuine?  Ever think your friend is in the happiest, most perfect marriage in the world, and next thing you know she's getting divorced?  Ever thought you had the greatest friend in the world and you'd be best friends forever?  I've had at least 2 or 3 friends like that and, let me tell you, that's a long shot.  Did you ever know someone or hear of someone who seemed to have the perfect life or the happiest life with no problems, only to learn he attempted suicide?  Plenty of things look happy and perfect on the outside - doesn't mean it's not messed up on the inside.
To me, "bliss" does not mean true happiness.  I think it means what looks like happiness.  So going back to the "ignorance is bliss" saying, it reminds me of the people I hear a lot saying "I don't even want to know."  Like I said, just because you don't want to know something doesn't mean you don't need to know it.  There are certain things we need to know, that are important to know, in order to be truly happy.  Ignorance may be bliss, but knowledge is liberating.
John 8:32 - "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."