Happiness...

Anyone who enjoys inner peace is no more broken by failure than he is inflated by success. He is able to fully live his experiences in the context of a vast and profound serenity, since he understands that experiences are ephemeral and that it is useless to cling to them. There will be no “hard fall” when things turn bad and he is confronted with adversity. He does not sink into depression, since his happiness rests on a solid foundation.

I was looking over a book by a Frenchman who translates for the Dali Lama. And I suspect he knows no more about how to make me happy than my shoe. I think I can glean a little from the approach he suggests. It may be easy enough to make a list of all the things that disrupt my own happiness. Then make another that gives me happiness. Next I can divide these things into categories of action. Things I do, things done to me, where, when... and so on. Then ultimately look deeply at all of them to learn where control lies. I think they are right about clinging to these things. WE got no control! It almost reminds me of people believing in rabbit's feet or lucky hats. It might be somewhere near superstition. The idea that we have control over these things. Or that things are controllable. It sounds like an excellent chance to ask better questions, relax, and let go for a while.