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Daily Wisdom – Motivational Podcast – Day 125 – Inspiration: Above and Beyond
Have you ever thought about the definition of happiness?
Happiness is a magic word and everyone is in search of it – but so few find it.
Why? Is it because you think that you are looking for happiness in a false direction?
According to one famous French writer who said: Even the man who is going out looking to hang himself is looking for happiness. Only, he is searching for it in a false direction.
I’d like to relate with you a story about an Emperor who had everything that his heart desired. But despite all his possessions, he fell into deep sadness.
He called all his physicians and he requested from them that they should find a cure- but nothing helped. He became so angry that he ordered that all his physicians be hung. At the last moment, when they were taken to the gallows, one of the servants begged the Emperor for one short day to stave off the execution.
This is what he said to him: “There is a wise man who lives on top of a sacred mountain. He’s not a politician, he’s just a wise man. Why don’t we just consult him and maybe he’ll find a cure for your majesty?”
So, the wise man was brought to the emperor who was examined by him. The wise man said to the emperor, “Put on the shirt of a really happy man for at least half an hour. And your joy and your former happiness and healthy attitude will then come back to you.”
Well, the emperor heard this and of course he said, “Well, that is very easy. I can find that person right away!”
But the wise man warned him and said, “This has to be a genuinely happy person. So, why not disguise yourself and go throughout the town, and search?”
The emperor thought, “Fine, I’ll do that.”
The emperor went amongst the wealthiest people in his town; but many of them were unhappy. They wanted more. He couldn’t find one truly happy person – they were all looking for more and more possessions, and none of them could relax.
Then the emperor thought, “Let me go to the middle class. Those people don’t have the curses of the millions; so, they must be happy.”
But he was disappointed, and he found out that the middle class wanted to be like the upper class. And therefore, all of their unhappy days were being clouded.
Then he thought, “Maybe the poor… But the poor are so poor, they don’t have much…”
On the last evening of the search, as he was going back home, he passed by a shack- a little hovel of a home in a suburb of the kingdom.
This is what he heard outside the window: “I am so happy today! Oh, thank G-d – I thank you for making me such a happy man!”
When the emperor heard this, he was more than elated. He stormed into the shack and immediately saw a man sitting on the floor, finishing his meager meal. The emperor looked about and he asked him, “Why is there no lamp in this house, or no furniture?”
The man said, “I’m a poor person.”
“Okay… Then, at least give me your shirt…” This is what the emperor requested of him, “and I’ll make you the richest person in the kingdom!”
The poor man answered, “I would gladly do it, but I am so poor that I don’t have a shirt.”
Now the emperor realized the wise man’s counsel.
You cannot search for happiness anywhere. It comes from inside, not outside. Who you are, what you do, who you meet, and the way you do things that you do with a proper attitude. This brings happiness – genuine happiness.
It cannot be bought; it cannot be borrowed; it cannot be invented. It must be lived repeatedly. I wish that for you, every day.
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