Among the servants in his court there was a renowned sage whose counsel the king frequently asked in times of difficulty & crisis. This sage was summoned to the king’s presence. The monarch asked him how to get rid of his anxiety & depression of spirits, how he might be really happy, for he was sick in body & mind.
The sage replied, “There is but one cure for the king. Your Majesty must sleep one night in the shirt of a happy man.”
Messengers were dispatched throughout the realm to search for a man who was truly happy. But everyone who was approached had some cause for misery, something that robbed them of true & complete happiness.
At last they found a man, a poor beggar, who sat smiling by the roadside &, when they asked him if he were really happy & had no sorrows, he confessed that he was a truly happy man.
Then they told him what they wanted. The king must sleep one night in the shirt of a happy man, & had given them a large sum of money to procure such a shirt. Would he sell them his shirt that the king might wear it?
The beggar burst into uncontrollable laughter, & replied, “I am sorry I cannot oblige the king. I haven’t a shirt on my back.”
‘The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoices; and with my song I will praise him.’ – Psalm 28:7
There are two ways of being rich. One is to have all you want, & the other is to be satisfied with what you have. It’s impossible for any of us to go through life without either increasing or diminishing somebody’s happiness.A small house will hold as much happiness as a big house, & that is because there are two things that contribute to happiness: What we can do without & what we can do with.
If you cannot find happiness along the way, you will not find it at the end of the road.
Happiness is not something you have in your hands; it is something you carry in your heart.
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