In Pursuit of Happiness

“Happiness depends upon ourselves” Aristotle

Hi guys!
On this week’s edition of #MentalMondays, I thought I should sneak in a word or two more about happiness, as a mini continuation from last week’s post. Because see, we’re all in search of happiness, one way or another, in one level or the other, one area or another. Happiness, or the search of it, has made us knock on so many doors, make so many decisions, and travel down certain paths, some of which we’re not proud. All in the big search for mysterious, elusive, happiness.
Let’s slow down a little bit. What’s your idea of happiness? When was the last time you were truly and genuinely happy? Would you recognize happiness if it stood right before you?
A story is told of a man who was shown a huge raw diamond. Convinced that he could find it, he joined the local diamond rush. And started digging. Rock after rock he threw away, until finally, disgusted and disillusioned, he left the unfinished project, convinced that there was no such thing. Well, along came another fellow, who picked up one of the stones, looked at it, and began loading the rest of the stones in a cart. He took them to a local mining company, and before long he was the richest man in the area! So, where did the digger go wrong? He was so intent on looking for a huge raw diamond, that he missed the little diamonds that would have made him just as rich as he’d have been if he’d found the one big diamond.
We could all be like that guy – so eager to look for happiness, we miss it in the little things of life that make up happiness as a whole. Happiness, my dear friends, is not one big prize to be gained, or one big goal to be achieved. More often than not, it is found in the little things we often overlook, bypass, take for granted, underrate. Happiness is found most of all in the internal state of affairs. Happiness is within – and if we recognize the happiness within, we’ll be able to see in in ordinary, everyday things of life.
Happiness lies not in having, or becoming, or getting, or achieving – happiness lies in being.
And so there you have it folks – in our search for happiness, let’s not miss the little things that will truly make us happy. To quote, Benjamin Franklin says, “contentment makes a poor man rich, discontent makes a rich man poor”.
Don’t worry about the Big Diamond, look for the Little Diamonds along the way.
There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way. Because happiness plays a huge part of our mental health, take care, because #MentalHealthMatters❤️🧠