Happiness
is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness but it is
generally the byproduct of other activities. Happiness
depends more on the inward disposition of the mind than on outward
circumstances. Let's learn from the following article written by John Izzo, PhD.
Have you ever wondered why some people
find more happiness than others? Why some people live well and die
happy while others die with regret?
I asked people to tell me the one person
they knew who had found true happiness and had something to teach us.
Hundreds of people with 18,000 years of experience shared their
secrets. They told me the five secrets we must
discover before we die.
The first secret they told me was to
be true to yourself. There is an inner voice inside of us that
tells us what we want but we must have the discipline to listen and the
courage to follow.
The second secret was to leave no
regrets. When I asked them what they regretted, they did not regret
their failures. They wished they had risked more. The greatest fear at
the end of life is not death nor; failure but that our last words will
be, “I wish I had.”
The third secret was to become love.
Remember that love is the one thing that matters most. They told me that
love was the greatest source of meaning and the source of most regret.
If there is something you have to say, say it sooner, even if you don’t
feel ready.
The fourth secret was to live the
moment. They told me that it all goes by so fast. See each day as a
gift. Choose not to waste it. Wherever you are really, be there.
The final secret they said was to give
more than you take. When I asked, “What has given your life meaning?”
They said that the things we take from the world have no meaning but we
remember what we left behind.
Find something that matters to you and
give all your heart to it: a cause, a child, a dream. They said that
happiness cannot be sought; it is a byproduct of service.
I asked them about dying. They told me
that if you really live, if you discover the five secrets, you won’t be
afraid to die.
Whatever mistakes you have made, no
matter how many regrets you have, plant a new tree today. This is what
the wise elders wanted me to know…The five secrets:
1.
1.
Be true to yourself.
2.
2. Leave no regrets.
3.
3. Become love.
4.
4. Live the moment.
5.
5. Give more than you take.
How did the elders live these five
secrets? And how can you? What actions can you take each day to find
true happiness and have a deeply fulfilling life? Read their stories,
share lifetimes of experience, and discover your own path to the five
secrets.
Most
of us after having spent many years working to live, spend many more
years living to work; and when finally there is no more work we don't
know how to live.
The
happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they
just make the most of everything that comes along their way.
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