Recovery Meditations ~ Happiness ~ One Day at a Time ~ April 19, 2011

~ HAPPINESS ~


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The greatest happiness you can have is

knowing that you do not necessarily

require happiness.


William Saroyan

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How many times during my life have I

said that all I want is "just to be

happy." We are told early on that our

legacy is "life, liberty and the pursuit

of happiness." Did you notice that our

forefathers used the word "pursuit?" How

very wise they were.

Happiness is not automatic. Life is

difficult and it's supposed to be that

way. If we expect happiness and we

expect life to be easy, at some point in

time we are going to be very

disappointed. I thought eating food made

me happy and it did ... for a short

time. There were other temporary

compulsions in my life that made me

think I was happy ~ but again for only a

short time.

As I began to work the Steps, I began to

desire something other than happiness. I

found myself yearning for serenity

... and I found it. The way I found it

was by not expecting the world and

everyone in it to make me happy. I

learned that life was more of an

adventure than a bowl of cherries. I

learned that the more I expected from

people, places and things, the more

disappointed I was ... and the more

disappointed I became, the less happy I

was.


ONE DAY AT A TIME . . .


I will not require happiness. But when I least expect it .... happiness will find me.