“To live happily is an inward power of the soul.” That is another quote by Marcus Aurelius. Personally, you hear a lot about Buddha, Confucius and Socrates, but none of them seem to hold a candle to Marcus Aurelius. If you have never read his Meditations, then you just don't know what you are missing. It is definitely worth reading some of this guy's thoughts!
This quote is simple and to the point. You don't get happiness from things, you receive it from your thoughts and how you perceive things. Have you ever chased a dream? If so, when you caught it, what did you find? I know for me, that once I got the item of my desire, my eye always turned to something else. Cars, stereos, properties, antiques. It didn't matter. I would set my sights on something, and once I achieved it, I would start looking for something else. It got to the point where I found that I was happiest when I was chasing something...striving for something. The happiness was in the journey, not the destination. In fact, I find I am most happy with the little things in my life. Reading a good book... joking around with my daughters... drinking a hot cup of coffee on a cold day. All of these things give me pleasure. Viewing the woods outside my back window or hearing an owl at night also bring happiness. I no longer look to possess happiness. Now, I just like to experience it in small doses on a daily basis. The satisfaction of a job well done. The pleasure I get in cleaning up my office or spending a moment with my daughters. I live in the moment... and live for the moment. Stop looking for the one thing that will give you happiness. Instead, start recognizing the little things that happen each day that already give you pleasure. Fill your life with these things and you will always be more happy than sad. Sure, I get my sad times and off days... just like everyone else. The trick is to minimize them. If you find yourself worried about something trivial, try to take a broader view of it. In twenty years will this matter? No, what about in five years? A week? Tomorrow? No? Then if it really doesn't have a large impact on your life, then why let it bring you down now? Find a solution for whatever bothers you and deal with it now. That way you can get back to enjoying your day. The power of happiness is within you. If you constantly look for it in possessions, then you will be perpetually unhappy. Enjoy the little things. Then, if something large happens, you will enjoy it all the more, and can file it away with what I hope will be a lifetime of good memories.
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