Image Preview

Happiness is the most sought after and illusive emotion on this planet. There are many, in fact, who would equate success with "being happy."

Harold Kushner is a rabbi who gained best-seller fame with his book When Bad Things Happen to Good People.

Later, however, Kushner wrote what I believe is an even better book entitled When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough, which he describes as nnot being about how to be happy or popular. According to Kushner, When All you Ever Wanted Isn't Enough is a book about how to be successful, but not in the way most people use the word.

Most Americans are familiar with the Declaration of Independence and its guarantee of everyone's right to the pursuit of happiness. Kushner says, however, that "pursuing happiness" is really the wrong goal. He writes:

You don't become happy by pursuing happiness. You become happy by living A Life that means something.
The happiest people you know are probably not the richest or most famous, probably not the ones who work the hardest at being happy by reading the articles and buying the best books and latching onto the latest fads. I suspect the happiest people you know are the ones who work at being kind, helpful and reliable, and happiness sneaks into their lives while they are busy doing those things.

The reason Kushner is right is because of words uttered by another rabbi two thousand years ago:

...remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you  and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

Posted by Ingrid Dreyer
www.personal-development-growth.com