Most people think they would be happy if only they had more: More money, more fame, more admiration and more physical beauty. But if those are the true elements of happiness, why are the people who seemingly have all of these things so unhappy?
Movie, TV and rock stars and top athletes and the very rich measured in money are often so unhappy it is practically a cliche. Divorce, drug addiction, lawsuits, threats, betrayal, bitterness and tantrums are common and all are expressions of human misery.
When one rich and famous woman died some years ago, she was so disillusioned and unhappy she left her fortune to her pets because she could no longer stand humans.
For what these people pursue can never lead to happiness.
Instead, those who find happiness find it it within themselves. And they find it by helping others with the good deed being the reward within itself.
No money beyond their basic needs, no fame, no adulation, and no striving for someone else's definition of physical beauty, for these are desires of the ego and not of the heart.
Happiness is found in the journey as each day brings appreciation and gratitude for loving and being loved, for good health, witnessing beauty in many different forms and for being aware of what life has to offer and not demanding more.
Happiness is in personal growth and offering others a helping hand in their growth. It is in finding intimacy and grace and in feeling joy with little gifts of kindness offered in abundance when one grows in awareness wise enough to discover them.
Dick
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