Today’s Quotation:
One is happy due to one’s efforts–once one knows the necessary ingredients of happiness–simple tastes, a certain degree of courage, self-denial to a point, a love of work, and a clear conscience. -George Sand
Today’s Meditation:
The way George Sand puts it, it doesn’t seem like the effort to find happiness (or to bring it out of ourselves) is all that difficult. Is it true that I’ll be happy if I stick to these principles? Of course, there is no true recipe for happiness, but this does come close.
Simple tastes seem to come up in every definition of happiness I see. I think that comes from our tendency to feel dissatisfied when our elegant or complex tastes leave us always wanting more. And, of course, we have to be brave if we allow ourselves even to have simple tastes–after all, what will others say when they see how simple our things are? Besides, to have a clear conscience, we must be courageous enough to make difficult decisions occasionally.
Self-denial is also important because if we don’t practice it, we risk becoming self-indulgent, and nothing will satisfy us. It’s also vital for our health when we look at that last piece of cake and remember the weight we’ve been gaining or how high our cholesterol levels or blood pressure have been going. Self-denial also frees up resources that we can use for other people in our lives–what we don’t spend on ourselves can go to the greater good if we so choose.
Love of work can be the hardest, for many of us end up taking the first job we can get, happy to have work and an income. It’s often hard to love that kind of work. Not all of us are blessed enough to be doing work we love, and that’s where courage comes in again–finding that work and doing what we need to be able to do it. No matter what our work, though, we can love it if we continue to remind ourselves that we’re filling other people’s needs by doing it.
Questions to ponder:
1. What concrete steps can you take today to achieve happiness?
2. Can you think of any other ingredients for happiness that don’t depend on other people’s actions or feelings?
3. If these are the ingredients for happiness, what obstacles may keep us from bringing it out in ourselves?
For further thought:
Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within. It is not what we see and touch or what others do for us that makes us happy; it is what we think and feel and do, first for the other person and then for ourselves. -Helen Keller
If you missed our last Daily Meditation, it is here.
