HAPPINESS comes from inner peace and inner balance. It requires INTEGRITY and STRENGTH WITHIN and GENTLENESS and ACCEPTANCE WITHOUT. Put differently, HAPPINESS is a matter of character and communication. People lack HAPPINESS because they lack inner stability. Then they chase after pleasure that cannot fill the emptiness inside them.

In the I Ching, HAPPINESS is symbolized by two lakes that are joined together. Their waters flow freely into each other and thus REPLENISH each other. Although they freely share with each other, each retains their individual INTEGRITY. Living through HAPPINESS one can BE A BETTER PERSON TODAY THAN THEY WERE YESTERDAY.

It is infectious. If you are HAPPY, you will make others feel HAPPY as well. When people are optimistic and outgoing, they share their thoughts more easily. When you are friendly, people will respond positively and share their perspective. The thrill of HAPPINESS is experienced when someone takes your perspective and IMPROVES upon it.

HAPPINESS is not the same thing as pleasure. Pleasure soon fades and demands repeated stimulation to be sustainable. HAPPINESS requires nothing outside itself. It gives freely to others and in this way continually renews itself.

Try to run after HAPPINESS and you will not get it. HAPPINESS is a product of inner peace and emotional stability. You cannot depend on others to make you HAPPY. If your HAPPINESS depends on the approval of other people, you have no real security. You will continually be anxious and fearful of losing that approval.

First learn to find HAPPINESS in your own HEART. Stop chasing after things in order to prove that you are worthy. Don’t look outside yourself. Have faith in yourself, share with others. Then you will find that HAPPINESS is already within you.

BE AS THE TWO CONNECTED LAKES, ENRICH EACH OTHER, JUST BE HAPPY WITH SHARING.

Categories: PERSPECTIVES Philosophical Perspective

ron winnegrad

Ron Winnegrad has been a Perfumer and teacher for 46 years. As a perfumer, Ron has been able to express the world he sees through a rainbow of olfactive and emotive visions. As a teacher, Ron has helped others to see fragrance through his own multi sensorial lens.