I was reading an article today and it questions what most Americans consider or think TRUE happniess really is. We go around in circles looking for it in physical places, externally, materialistically, ect.
This article shares the same philosophy that I believe, it really does come from within. We have to find what completes us and only we know that as we are all different. The American Dream is a lie!
Here is part of the article that stood out to me; it references a wealthy guy looking for pleasure through over stimulating his senses:
However much we, as adults, think we have come to terms with the fact that no one can be all good or all bad, we are still intolerant of frustrations to our own pleasure. We continue to grasp at the very objects that have previously disappointed us. A wealthy patient of mine exemplifies this predicament. After a gourmet meal, he craves a cognac. After the cognac, a cigarette; after the cigarette he will want to make love; after making love, another cigarette. Soon, he begins to crave sleep, preferably without any disturbing dreams. His search for happiness through pleasures of the senses seemed to never have an end, and he was not happy. We think only of manipulating the external world; we never stop to examine ourselves.
If we stop and examine ourselves (I personally also strongly believe in prayer asking God to help me with this), we will be able to hear the strong deeper desires of our heart and will be able to determine what really completes us and fulfills us in the long run; that is where we find “happiness.” It’s not necessarily a temporary or continual feeling of “being on top of the world” like nothing bad is going to happen to you or as if there are no problems, but it’s even deeper than that. It says “You know what, I’m okay, I’m exactly where I want to be.” It’s that feeling of being at the right place at the right time, when you can say that you are exactly where you are suppose to be. There is peace and happiness in that 🙂