A well known political philosopher said that we, social man, live only in the minds of men. How true this may be. We long to be those who are admired by all. We would rather be miserable and popular than happy and obscure. Many people claim to be individuals above the fray not caring what anyone thinks but the irony is those who lay such claims admit to be only hypocrites for their declaration shows that they do in fact care. These people who claim to be independent of the thoughts of man lie to themselves and everyone else. They envy those who appear free from the pressures of social life and so they pretend that they too are free so that people will envy them. Who is truly free? I say it is the man who can turn down all power and wealth in secret and never tell a soul because he is certain that these things do not equate to happiness. It is not the homeless man or the CEO but it is the man who is humble enough to acknowledge his limits and to be satisfied with good instead of best. Who is truly happy? It is the man who does the right thing and never claims credit because the one who claims credit is not free. Credit binds us to the minds of man and feeds the hunger of vanity. Success is not the enemy nor is money or fame or power but it is the love of these things. It is the uncontrolled desire to either gain or escape these things. It is required that one become neutral to these things to be truly happy. Wealth and power are good things that all should hope for but for them to make you happy they must be a byproduct of other action because when they become a motive even subconsciously then you have become a slave and your freedom will vanish as will you happiness. Have I bowed out of the rat race? No, I still want to rule the world but at least I am aware of the race. At least I will be able to see when it is time to bow out, concede and live happily for the rest of my life. Happiness isn't dependent upon success but instead on knowing which success to abandon and which to chase. The young man who doesn't dream of playing professional sports or of, well ruling the world, hasn't had the joy of hope the trick is being able to look in hindsight and be happy you tried and failed. The real kicker is when you get there. When you get where everyone wants to be and you realize that it isn't any better. That's the real problem because then there is nothing to hope for and you realize that happiness is a fraud, no different than the tooth fairy but your wrong and will never know it. Happiness is real it just has nothing to do with the happenings around you. The question is this… can you choose obscure happiness over miserable fame, Power, Money… if you can then you will be happy and if you can't then you won't and the achievements you make have nothing to do with it. Some will succeed and some will fail and many in both groups will be happy and many will be miserable. Life is funny isn't it?
