Happiness is like
a stone dropped into a pool to set in motion an ever-widening circle of
ripples. As Stevenson has said, being happy is a duty.
There is no exact
definition of the word happiness. Happy people are happy for all sorts
of reasons. The key is not wealth or physical well-being, since we find
beggars, patients and so-called failures who are extremely happy.
Being happy is a
sort of unexpected dividend. But staying happy is an accomplishment, a
triumph of soul and character; it is not selfish to struggle for it. It
is indeed, a duty to ourselves and others.
Being unhappy is
like an infectious disease，which causes people to shrink away from the
sufferer. He soon finds himself alone, miserable and embittered. There
is, however, a cure so simple as to seem, at first glance, ridiculous:
If you don’t feel happy, pretend to be!
It works. Before
long you will find that instead of repelling people, you attract them.
You discover how deeply rewarding it is to be the center of wider and
wider circles of good will.
Then the
make-believe becomes a reality. You possess the secret of peace of mind
and can forget yourself in being of service to others.
Being happy once
it is realized at a duty and established as habit opens doors into
unimaginable gardens thronged with grateful friends.
