Happiness is an Inside Job

” If you ever find happiness by hunting for it, you will find it, as the old woman did her spectacles, safe on her nose all the time.” (Josh Billings)

What’s the best place to find happiness in life?

Well, you would be wise to consider that the primary determinant of how happy we are depends less on our external circumstances and things outside of ourselves, than on our inner reactions and qualities, like our attitudes, our character, and our decisions. Searching for happiness by focusing on what is outside of ourselves is like, what has been described as going on a wild goose chase.

As noted by the American essayist Agnes Repplier, that while happiness is not always easy to find in ourselves, “it is not possible to find it elsewhere.”

Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.” (Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. President)

I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition.” (Martha Washington, first First Lady of U.S.)

Happiness is an inside job.” (William Arthur Ward, American motivational speaker)


Getting Personal

What personal evidence, if any, can you point to that supports the assertion “happiness is an inside job?

….Top of page image, “Old Woman With Glasses,” from unsplash.com

By Gary and Esther Berkley

Gary and Esther Berkley are the authors of "Whatever You Become, Become Your Best - The College and Graduate Guide to Wisdom for Success in Life." Check it out at www.amazon.com/dp/B09593L5FT

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