Secret of Happiness

The one who believes happiness to be his goal in life will never find it. Happiness is only for the one who can learn to be happy without happiness.

Margaret Lee Runbeck (1905-1956), American author, teacher and humanitarian has said: “Happiness is not a state you arrive at, but a manner of travelling.”

Every man desires happiness, but nobody gets real happiness in this world. This world was not created for man to build his castle of happiness in it. The one who believes it to be his goal in life will never find it. It is only for the one who can learn to be happy without happiness.

Were man to discover that sorrow is inevitable in life he will learn to live with sorrow. If he experiences suffering or wrongdoing, he will not complain or mourn, instead he will imbibe valuable lessons from the experience. If his hopes and desires are dashed, he is not depressed. Instead the experience gives him the maturity to acknowledge that in this world there is no one whose every desire is fulfilled, whether rich or poor, king or subject.

If something is to be gained by success and happiness then much can be achieved with failure and sorrow as well. The experience of failure and sorrow makes a man sincere. They turn one into a serious thinker capable of grasping new lessons about life. Sorrow and failure change one’s personality creating a new and stronger person. If there was only success and happiness in the world then the world would only be a burial ground of weak and insensitive people. It is only sorrow and failure that make for strong and courageous individuals in this world.

The troubles of the world act like the furnace required for the purification of ores. Heat from the furnace purifies and extracts pure forms of gold and silver. Likewise, hardship and difficult experiences forge the personality of an individual. They turn a dull and lifeless person into a shining personality.