How Does It All Work?
Lessons from Watching Babies
We start out as babies. We can't control anything. We cry, if we're fortunate, someone tries to figure out what's wrong. We get fed or changed. We begin to learn to control our bodies. How does it all work?
Our parents teach us to talk. We learn to identify things. We go to school. We are taught how the world works. Now we know.
We learn to worship education. We must have more of it to truly be successful. That's how the world works. So, we get more and more education. We go deep into debt. Now we have the degrees to prove we know how the world works. Really?
Here's a truth: All the knowledge in the world doesn't help anybody until it is intelligently put to use.
People with very little education are often happier and more successful than those with multiple degrees.
How can that be true? How does it all work?
Happiness doesn't come from education. Happiness doesn't come from hard work. Happiness doesn't come from things.
Consider: Happiness is doing what you want, with people you want to do it with, for as long as you want to do it. I rather like that.
Does that mean I can't be happy while sitting alone in my chair doing nothing? My experience is peace. I enjoy that. I am happy.
What is success? Many people define success as an amount of money. People who have a lot of things are successful. They help a lot of people. We should be like them.
A friend of mine told me that he was making $300,000 a year. He works 16 hours a day. Six days a week. He enjoys his work. His life is wonderful. Just ask him.
After I retired, he began sending texts to me. "How is retirement going?" I'd reply, "Great. I'm playing with my grandchildren. Are you thinking about retirement?"
His reply, "Everyday."
Look up the definition of success. I think you'll find that success is realization of a goal. You get to set your goals. When you achieve them, you are successful.
Does achievement of your goals make you happy? That hasn't been my experience. I've accomplished many goals that didn't increase my happiness. How does it all work?
What if the goal is to be happy? What if success is just being happy?
I can be successful while sitting in my chair in bliss while being thought free, experiencing what I call the chatter-free mind. I realize it isn't my activity that causes happiness. I'm not doing anything. It isn't people that cause happiness. I am alone.
I'm not having a life, while sitting in my chair. I am experiencing a goal: controlling my mind.
I get out of my chair and continue to be happy. I continue to control my mind. My wife is glad to see me. I'm glad to see her. We don't need each other to be happy. We enjoy sharing happiness together.
Michael Mathieu, my son-in-law, said something at their wedding that is worth repeating. Paraphrasing, doing everyday things with the right person makes every day special.
Action: Be happy. Attract happy people. Be happy together. Make every day special.
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