Day 7 of 7 Days of Inspirational Quotes
“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy”. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.” —John Lennon
I have to agree with John Lennon. His teachers didn’t understand life, nor the simplistic needs of a child. Happiness, folks- it’s all about happiness. Today’s quote goes hand-in-hand with Day 2 (Ayn Rand) and Day 4 (Steve Jobs) quotes.
Steve Jobs said “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” If you don’t love what you’re doing, how can you be happy at work? How can your profession leave you feeling fulfilled if it doesn’t make you happy? Ayn Rand said of mankind that “his own happiness [is] the moral purpose of his life.” There is nothing more important than happiness, whether you’re talking about your professional life or your private life. Happiness needs to be in both. Happiness is the key ingredient that makes life worth living. The other components are: having a purpose, and someone to love, in my opinion.
Imagine having all the money you could ever want. You could buy anything your heart desired. You wouldn’t need a job. You could spend your days shopping, traveling to exotic places, buying and/or building homes wherever you wanted, etc . Now honestly, how long could you live like that? Would that make you happy? Really happy? I was talking to my dear friend about this recently. She remarked that she had to write a paper in college about the happiness of lottery winners. She said the research she did was fascinating! She couldn’t believe how many lottery winners either committed suicide or lost all their wealth in a few years’ time. She told me stories of winners being hounded by people who wanted their money and of others who simply were never satisfied with what they bought. They had to keep filling a void by buying more and more “stuff.” What was the one thing all these lottery winners lacked? Happiness.
Money does NOT buy happiness. Happiness comes from inside. But you say “having money does make me happy!” But that kind of happiness is fleeting. It isn’t real. It’s superficial, and fades over time. Real happiness comes from the inside of each of us, and stays there, growing when we give it away in a genuine manner, such as helping others. Helping someone else is a great way to generate some happiness inside you, as well as the recipient of your help. It feels good. Genuine happiness comes from loving someone unconditionally- such as a child, or parent, spouse or pet. Happiness comes from your heart, and is brought out in everything good you do. Doing good for others makes you feel happy and great inside. That’s true happiness.
John Lennon understood at a tender age how important happiness was. My friend who told me about her college paper said she found out some of the happiest people on earth are also the poorest. There are very poor people living in cities in India who have no home, no running water, no food, and no possessions. They are all homeless together. They live in big areas of cardboard boxes, where they share food, take care of each other, and stick together. They know of nothing else- no mansions, no TV or cell phones, no designer clothes or cars. And they have nothing but love for each other. They are some of the happiest people in the world. My friend said her professor talked about a lot of happy people in the world who lived like that. True happiness does come from inside. Strive to be happy. I hope everyone is like John Lennon was and wants to be happy when they grow up!
Tami Loves…finding, believing in, and sharing true happiness with others.
