Sometime long ago, I learnt these two definitions.
# Success is getting what you want.
# Happiness is wanting what you get.
Over the years, from experiencing the inscrutable nature of
Life, I have come to understand that Life just happens. It has no agenda or
desire to cause us any suffering. Yet we suffer all the time because we have
this expectation that our Life must be different from what it is. Our suffering
pushes us into the dark recesses of unhappiness and we languish there hoping
someday that we will be happy when things get better. And when things get
better, as they always do, you soon find that you don’t have much time. And
that makes you unhappy for a different reason, all over again – you wish that
you have not postponed happiness. You wish you had lived a more complete and
fulfilling Life!
Here’s an old Zen story that illustrates this point
beautifully:
Traveler: "What kind of weather are we going to have
today?"
Shepherd: "The kind of weather I like."
Traveler: "How do you know it will be the kind of
weather you like?"
Shepherd: "Having found out, sir, that I cannot always
get what I like, I have learned to always like what I
get. So I am quite sure we will have the kind of weather I
like."
So journey through Life wanting what you get. Because if you
postpone happiness while waiting too long to get what you want, you may well
end up not having enough time to enjoy what you finally, eventually, get!
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