The secret of happiness….is a spoon??!
Some spend their entire lives seeking happiness.
But really…what actually is happiness??!!
Do you need to have something, be something, do something in order to be happy?
In the book, The Alchemist, there is a simple story of a young boy in search of this very thing.
The story begins with the boy heading off into the desert, wanting to learn the secret of happiness from the ‘wisest man in world’. He travels for many a day until finally….he reaches a beautiful castle, the home of the wise man.
As the boy enters the magnificent castle, he is surrounded by hundreds of people, every group from tradespeople and guests to musicians. After the boy has waited patiently, the wise man finally speaks to him. He asks the young boy who is in search of himself, why he has come to him.
The wise man advises that he is unable to discuss the boy’s quest at this very moment. Instead, he tells the boy to take a walk around his beautiful palace and come back to him a few hours. Before the boy left, the wise man handed him a spoon that held two drops of oil, “As you wander around, carry this spoon with you without allowing the oil to spill,’ the wise man instructs.
After two hours, the boy returns to the wise man. “Well,” asked the wise man, “did you see the Persian tapestries that are hanging in my dining hall? Did you see the garden that took the master gardener ten years to create? Did you notice the beautiful parchments in my library?’
The boy was embarrassed and confessed he had observed nothing as he was only focused on not spilling the oil the wise man had given him.
“Then go back and observe the marvels of my world,” said the wise man. Relieved, the boy picked up the spoon and began exploring this palace once more, this time observing everything, from the garden to the amazing art work and the breathtaking views of the mountains all around the castle. The boy once again returned to the wise man, this time relating everything he had seen in great detail.
“But where are the drops of oil I entrusted to you?” asked the wise man. Looking down at the spoon he held, the boy saw that the oil was gone.
“Well there is only one piece of advice I can give you,” said the wise man.
“The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never forget the drops of oil on the spoon,”
From this simple story, we learn the key to happiness could be summed up as having balance. As the saying goes: We should take time to ‘smell the roses’ and enjoy all the wonderful things that life has to offer — from spending with our children to going on morning walks and watching the sun rise.
But what is also being said is that we must not forget the other piece of the puzzle: the drops of oil on our spoon. Every one of us carries our purpose. It is our purpose that drives us and also gives us joy and a sense of accomplishment.
