Happiness by William George Jordan - February 25, 2010

Happiness is the greatest paradox in Nature. It can grow in any soil, live under any conditions. It defies enviornment. It comes from within; it is the revelation of the depths of inner life as light and heat proclaim sun from which they radiate. Happiness consists of not having, but of being; not of possessing, but of enjoying. It is the warm glow of a heart at peace with itself.

A martyr at the stake may have happiness that a king on his throne may envy. Man is the creator of his own happiness; it is the aroma of life lived in harmony with high ideals. For what a man has, he may be dependent on others; what he is, rests with him alone. What he obtains in life is but acquisition; what he attains is growth.

Happiness is the soul's joy in the possession of the intangible. Absolute, perfect, continuous happiness in life is impossible for the human. It would mean the consummation of attainments, the individual consciousness of a perfectly fufilled destiny. Happiness is a paradox because it may coexist with trial, sorrow and poverty. It is the gladness of the heart, rising superior to all conditions...Man might posess everything tangible in the world and yet not be happy, for happiness is the satisfying of the soul, not of the mind or the body.

William George Jordan as quoted in Treasury of Joy and Enthusiasm -- an amazing book written by Norman Vincent Peale, p. 77

by Jen Engevik