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Happiness is such an elusive and ephemeral quality. One moment, it's there, the next, it's gone. In the end, it takes our own willpower to CREATE it. If we try to find the wrong in everything, we will never be happy. On the other hand, if we seek the good, and appreciate it, we will be forever happy. I suffered from depression for years, and now, I'm at that amazing point in my life where I'm incredibly grateful for all that I have. Just take a look around you. Most people don't have half of what we have, and yet they are a hundred times happier. Why? Because having less makes you appreciate what little you have. I remember when I was younger, my father told me the best story that truly epitomized happiness:
There once was a king, who fell prey to some unknown illness. All of the doctors and all of the priests in the kingdom could not cure him. As he lay on his deathbed, his son desperately went to a local man of wisdom. The man of wisdom told him that the only cure was to find the happiest man in the entire kingdom and bring his shirt to the king. For days and days, the king's men searched the kingdom for this man. They began with the upper-class, falling into the misconception that the wealthy would be happier since they were not in discomfort. They fruitlessly searched, until they finally reached a little hut on the edge of the kingdom. Inside, the happiest man in the kingdom was dancing. The son was incredibly happy that they could finally get his shirt and cure the king. But this man did not even own a shirt.
This story taught me so much about the way happiness works. I know the moral of the story wraps up nicely, but life doesn't always work perfectly. People say that you can be happy without money, but sometimes it isn't true. Money doesn't guarantee happiness, but it is much much harder to be happy without it.
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