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Today's
Quotation:
One is happy as a result of one's own
efforts--once one
knows the necessary ingredients of
happiness--simple tastes,
a certain degree of courage, self-denial to a point, love
of work, and, above all, a
clear conscience.
George Sand
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Today's
Meditation:
The
way George Sand puts it, it doesn't seem like the effort it
takes to find happiness (or to bring it out of ourselves) is
all that difficult. Is it true that if I stick to
these principles, I'll be happy? Of course, there is
no true recipe for happiness, but this does come close,
doesn't it?
Simple
tastes seem to come up in every definition of happiness that
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 are to 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 some
difficult decisions from time to time.
Self-denial
is also important, because if we don't practice it we risk
becoming self-indulgent, and then nothing will satisfy
us. It's also important 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.
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