We often think that others are happier than we are, but are they? So as we consider our lives, we may ask ourselves, how is happiness found?
A survey was conducted to determine what kind of people were the happiest in the world.
Among the tens of thousands of responses, four stood out: an artist stood whistling while admiring the work he had just completed, a mother bathing her baby, a child who was building a sand castle, and a doctor who spent a few hours laboriously trying to revive a sick patient and miraculously succeeding.
Happiness is achieved by looking deep into your heart to find and feel this inner positive, joyful quality and then merely sharing and expressing it unconditionally with others. The following are two stories that illustrate how happiness was found.
The poet
Once, there was a poet who was both talented and wealthy. He had a beautiful, gentle wife and a brilliant son, but he was consistently unhappy. He asked God to help him find happiness. God first took away all his property and then took away his wife. His child was also taken away from him, and finally, he lost his talent as a poet. The poet was in great despair.
A month passed, and God returned everything to him again. The poet hugged his wife and child. He knelt at God’s feet for a long time and thanked Him sincerely for providing the happiness he once sought.
The poor man’s happiness
A poor man lived in a tiny house. The house was very crowded since four generations of the family lived together. He asked God to please help him get out of their predicament. God requested that he should place all his chickens and ducks in the house and then come and see him in a week.
During the week, the poor man was tortured by the unbearable living conditions and became even more miserable. Once again, he approached God and asked for help. God asked the poor man to remove the animals from the house and then come and see him in a week.
A week later, the poor man knelt at God’s feet and thanked him sincerely for providing him with happiness, which he felt had previously eluded him.
Loss and gain
God didn’t provide either person in these two stories with anything more materially; rather, He made them experience the feeling of loss and gain. This principle enlightened them, and they began cherishing what they already had.
As an intelligent person, ponder this question: What will I gain if I lose everything, causing my unhappiness?
To answer this question, with each loss, there is a gain; in every gain, there is a loss, and with each new ending comes a new beginning.
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