It is easy to fall into the trap of busyness – constantly going from one thing to another – from demands at home to demands at work to emails to exercise to relationships – with no time for stopping, reflecting, or recharging.  We can become like a carpenter who doesn’t have the time to stop and sharpen his or her tools.  As a result, the tools become dull; more and more effort is required; less and less is accomplished. We think we must move faster, work harder.  It’s a vicious circle.

Each of us can be, and should be, deeply happy. What do I mean by “deep happiness”? I mean the kind of happiness that touches your spirit and connects with your soul. Some people call it self-fulfillment, or self-actualization, or being centered. Others call it living their passion, or following their bliss. For people of faith, it’s about finding the divine will for their lives, and then living that will.

Each of us should be deeply happy so that we will be at our best, and will be able to help others to be deeply happy and be at their best as well. When we experience deep happiness, we become more loving, more giving, more patient, more enthusiastic. We become a gift to others. So we should be deeply happy for their sake as well as ours.

Probably the biggest gift you will ever receive is the huge investment your parents made in you. But they are not the only ones who gave to you. During the course of your life you have received many things from other people – teachers, relatives, strangers. Schools and hospitals were built with the hard work and tax dollars of those who preceded you. In fact, virtually everything you use in your life has been made by someone else.

The peace that you enjoy has been delivered by the sacrifice of others. When you think about it, you know countless people who have made a difference in your life – some negative, some positive. Why not make a decision to have a positive impact on the lives of others, even if they are strangers?

Here’s a strange paradox of the upward path that runs through Real Life: the more conscious we become of what limits us, the more limitless becomes our reality! So, take as long as you need to understand the following special lesson; it sheds much needed light on a certain dark state that stands between us, and the higher freedom for which we long.

The sole purpose of discouraged feelings is to keep your thoughts on what you can’t do. And with your attention fixed in this fashion – on what seems impossible – there’s no room for discovering what is possible – for what you can do.