REFLECTIONS ON LIFE

Everyone wants to find happiness in life. No matter what our circumstances, and no matter what hand we are dealt, the search for true contentment is at the heart of everyone’s goals.  The question, then, is   how ?  How are we supposed to even begin looking for it? There have been many   touching stories   told of the different ways people have sought and found their own version of happiness. For example,   this police deputy chose to sit with an old man and wait together for his bus . That made the officer happy on a deeper level. The story below captures the essence of one way that we could all look for happiness in our lives. A group of people were gathered in a room, and participated in a social, but ultimately, very psychological, experiment. At the end, each of them found out exactly what they could do to attain joy. Scroll further to read this heartwarming story, and let me know your own opinions on finding true happiness in the comments below....

Once upon a time a psychology professor walked around on a stage while teaching stress management principles to an auditorium filled with students.  As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the typical “glass half empty or glass half full” question.  Instead, with a smile on her face, the professor asked, “How heavy is this glass of water I’m holding?” Students shouted out answers ranging from eight ounces to a couple pounds. She replied, “From my perspective, the absolute weight of this glass doesn’t matter.  It all depends on how long I hold it.  If I hold it for a minute or two, it’s fairly light.  If I hold it for an hour straight, its weight might make my arm ache a little.  If I hold it for a day straight, my arm will likely cramp up and feel completely numb and paralyzed, forcing me to drop the glass to the floor.  In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it feel...

A woman was feeling exhausted because she had been working all day in the city, so she decided to drive out to the sea. After she'd driven for over an hour, she arrived at a beautiful, deserted stretch of sand just as the sun was going down. The sea was at its highest point of the day, but the tide was just beginning to go out, so she parked her car and started walking. She was strolling along the beach when she noticed a young man who seemed to be dancing at the water's edge. She watched him, as time and again he bent down, picked something up and then threw it into the sea. As she drew nearer to the man, she saw on the sand thousands of starfish which had been washed onto the beach by the tide. She was amazed because she'd never seen so many starfish at once but, at the same time, she thought it was a sad and hopeless sight because the stranded starfish seemed sure to die when the tide went out and they dried up. Then she noticed that one by one, the young man...

The author Facundo Cabral  wrote what you might call “a story about life” In fact it has happened to almost all of us, maybe everybody, however this poem should be music to our ears, especially when we are going through difficult situations. Enjoy it!  You are not depressed, you are distracted... Distracted from the life that inhabits you. You have a heart, a brain, a soul, a spirit, so how can you feel poor and wretched? Distracted from the life that surrounds you: dolphins, forests, seas, mountains, rivers…   Don't be like those who suffer for one human being  when there are more than 7 billion and living alone is not so bad, I have a good time, deciding what I want to do at each instant, and thanks to the solitude I know myself, which is essential in order to live. Don't be like those who feel old at 70, forgetting that Moses directed the exodus at 80 and Rubinstein could play Chopin at 90 better than anyone, just to m...

One day all the employees of a very unusual company reached their office and all saw a big sign on the main door which said this . . . 'Yesterday, the person who has been hindering your growth in this company passed away. We invite you to join the funeral in the room that has been prepared in the gym.' In the beginning, they all got sad for the death of one of their colleagues, but after a while they started getting curious to know who was that person who hindered the growth of their colleagues and the company itself? The excitement in the gym was such that security agents were ordered to control the crowd within the room. The more people reached the coffin, the more the excitement heated up. Everyone thought - 'Who is this person who was hindering my progress?' One by one the intrigued employees got closer to the coffin, and when they looked inside it, they suddenly became speechless. They all got to stand near the coffin, and all ended up shocked and in silence...

The moment that you died my heart was torn in two, one side filled with heartache the other died with you. I often lie awake at night when the world is fast asleep, and take a walk down memory lane with tear upon my cheeks. Remembering you is easy, I do it everyday, but missing you is heartache that never goes away. I hold you tightly within my heart  and there you will remain. Until the joyous day arrives that we will meet again. We must accept God's will even when sometimes it is difficult to understand what happens in our world or what happens to us. He knows why he allows it to happen, we are humans and we aren't perfect but he is.

There once was a King who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The King looked at all the pictures, but there were only two he really liked and he had to choose between them. One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror, for peaceful towering mountains were all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace. The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell and in which lightening played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all. But when the King looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest in perfect peace. Which picture do you th...

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite -- telling them to help themselves to the coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for t...

I once saw a high school teacher lead a simple, powerful exercise to teach his class about privilege and social mobility. He started by giving each student a scrap piece of paper and asked them to crumple it up. Then he moved the recycling bin to the front of the room. He said, "The game is simple — you all represent the country's population. And everyone in the country has a chance to become wealthy and move into the upper class." "To move into the upper class, all you must do is throw your wadded-up paper into the bin while sitting in your seat." The students in the back of the room immediately piped up, "This is unfair!" They could see the rows of students in front of them had a much better chance. Everyone took their shots, and — as expected — most of the students in the front made it (but not all) and only a few students in the back of the room made it. He concluded by saying, "The...

One day a professor entered the classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test. They waited anxiously at their desks for the test to begin. The professor handed out the question paper, with the text facing down as usual. Once he handed them all out, he asked his students to turn the page and begin. To everyone’s surprise, there were no questions….just a black dot in the center of the page.  The professor seeing the expression on everyone’s face, told them the following: “I want you to write what you see there.” The students confused, got started on the inexplicable task. At the end of the class, the professor took all the answer papers and started reading each one of them aloud in front of all the students. All of them with no exceptions, described the black dot, trying to explain its position in the middle of the sheet, etc. etc. etc. After all had been read, the classroom silent, the professor began to explain: “I am not going to grade ...

Well then! I need to tell you I adore you, To tell you that I love you with all of my heart; That it is greatly I suffer, that it is greatly I weep, That I can no longer do so, and in the cry that I implore you I implore you and I speak to you in the name of my last hope. I want you to know that for so many days now I have been sick and pallid from so many sleepless nights; That I have seen the death of all my dear hopes; That all my nights are black, so very black and gloomy, That I no longer know where the dawn may rise. At night, when I lay my temples heavily upon the pillow And to another world I wish that my spirit may return, I walk ever on and on, and at the journey’s end The outline of my mother fades into oblivion, And once again I see you in my soul appear. I understand your kisses will never belong to me; I know that in your eyes I will never see myself; And I love you, and in my ravings so fervent and demented I bless your derision, adore your e...

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year-old grandson. The old man’s hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered. The family ate together at the table.  But the elderly grandfather’s shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth. The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. “We must do something about father,” said the son. “I’ve had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.”  So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl!  When the family glanced in Grandfather’s direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped ...

A crow lived in the forest and was absolutely satisfied in life. But one day he saw a swan. “This swan is so white,” he thought, “and I am so black. This swan must be the happiest bird in the world.” He expressed his thoughts to the swan. “Actually,” the swan replied, “I was feeling that I was the happiest bird around until I saw a parrot, which has two colors. I now think the parrot is the happiest bird in creation.” The crow then approached the parrot. The parrot explained, “I lived a very happy life until I saw a peacock. I have only two colors, but the peacock has multiple colors.” The crow then visited a peacock in the zoo and saw that hundreds of people had gathered to see him. After the people had left, the crow approached the peacock. “Dear peacock,” the crow said, “you are so beautiful. Every day thousands of people come to see you. When people see me, they immediately shoo me away. I think you are the happiest bird on the planet.” The peacock replied, “I alw...