True happiness isn't found by seeking it directly—it emerges naturally when we fix our minds on something greater than ourselves and pursue work that gives our life meaning.
The Master Word: Work
The master word that will transform your life is surprisingly simple: work. As Sir William Osler noted, though little, this word looms large in meaning. It is the open sesame to every portal, the great equalizer that transmutes all the base metal of humanity into gold.
Work brings hope to youth, confidence to the middle-aged, and repose to the elderly. Yet we have a perverse tendency to take the best parts of life for granted. The excitement of meaningful work can fade until it becomes as mundane as everyday routine—unless we consciously maintain our awareness and appreciation.
John Stuart Mill's Definition of Happiness
John Stuart Mill, believed to have perhaps the highest IQ of any person who ever lived, discovered the true nature of happiness. His definition is worth remembering:
"Those only are happy who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness—on the happiness of others, on the improvement of mankind, even on some art or pursuit followed not as a means, but as itself an ideal. Aiming thus at something else, they find happiness by the way."
This is the only true and lasting path to meaningful happiness. The happiest people are usually the busiest people—those whose work consists of serving others in some way. By losing themselves in what they're doing and where they're going, happiness quietly joins them and becomes part of them.
The Paradox of Direct Pursuit
Dr. Jay Wallace Hamilton explains: "The clearest law on which there is fundamental agreement is that this inner music of a soul which we've named happiness is essentially and inevitably a byproduct—it comes invariably by indirection. To pursue it, to pounce upon it, to go directly after it is the surest way not to obtain it."
People who make a mission of seeking happiness miss it. Those who talk loudly about the right to be happy seldom are. Happiness is a byproduct, an agreeable thing added in the pursuit of something else.
The Misery Formula
Want to be miserable? Here's the formula: Get wrapped up in yourself and your problems. Become an island surrounded on every side by yourself. Turn all your thoughts inward. The outside world will disappear into fog, and you'll find yourself in a vacuum, inventing problems like "the world is against me"—when in reality, the world doesn't even know you exist.
Finding Your True Course
Like a great iceberg moving through Antarctic waters, seemingly against the wind, you should have your roots deep in a great moving current—a stream of conscious direction that keeps you on course toward your chosen destination, regardless of surface winds.
In such a life, there's no great hurry, no frantic running about, no doubt or confusion. Each day you move steadily along your course. In one day, you may not seem to make much headway, but return in a year and you'll have covered marvelous distance.
The Four Prescriptions for Renewal
When feeling lost or overwhelmed, try these four prescriptions:
1. Listen: Take time to truly hear the world around you—the wind, the sounds of nature, the rhythm of life.
2. Reach Back: Remember your past, the happy times, the struggles, and the successes that made you who you are.
3. Reexamine Your Motives: Clarify and restate your goals. Why are you doing what you're doing?
4. Write Your Worries in the Sand: Let the tide of perspective wash away your anxieties.
Living in the Present
From ancient Sanskrit wisdom, 4,500 years old: "Look well to this one day, for it and it alone is life. In the brief course of this one day lie all the verities and realities of your existence—the pride of growth, the glory of action, the splendor of beauty."
Yesterday is only a dream, and tomorrow is but a vision. Yet each day well-lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and each tomorrow a vision of hope.
"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." — Henry David Thoreau
Serendipity: The Art of Happy Accidents
Serendipity means the faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident—the good things that almost always happen to a person following a bold course of action. But here's the key: you wouldn't make serendipitous discoveries if you hadn't been looking for something else in the first place.
Luck is what happens when preparedness meets opportunity. It won't happen unless you're prepared for it. Take bold, positive action toward what you truly want, and watch how serendipity enters your life.
The Ultimate Wisdom
Greatness, peace, and happiness are not proper ends for any human soul to set for itself. They are the byproducts of a life that has held steady, like a ship at sea, to some true course worth sailing.
Find your true course—something in which you can lose yourself completely, dedicate yourself fully—and the greatness, peace, and happiness will come naturally. Remember: it's not how much we have, but how much we enjoy that makes happiness.
"Abraham Lincoln said that people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. Happiness should not be just a reaction to outside stimulus—it should be a state of mind, a regular condition."