The Bad News? There Is No Way to Happiness… the Good News? Happiness Is the Way

“There is no way to happiness – happiness is the way.”  Thich Nhat Hanh

Somewhere along the way we made it an acceptable practice to keep moving the goal posts of success and happiness… trading the enjoyment of the present for the promise of a better tomorrow.

“I have to get good grades now, so I can get into a good college.” The celebration of getting accepted into university is short-lived and quickly replaced with a new destination, the need for good grades in college in order to get a good job, or get into grad school.  The job gives way to the need for a better job, a bigger this, a newer that, and soon you find yourself 15 years into the journey of never enough.

Liz Taylor said, “It’s not in the having, it’s in the getting.”  

If having things was enough, if possessions brought meaning and purpose to life, then we should be surrounded by throngs of incredibly happy people.  But the ever-increasing use of anti-depressants, the wealthy included, should be enough proof to conclude that having things doesn’t satisfy.  It’s in the pursuit that the passion lies not the possession.

In our culture of “more”, it can be quite freeing to remember,

“Life is a journey, not a destination.”  

Destinations are too few and far between, but the journey goes on daily.  I hope you can enjoy your journey today.