Responsible For Your Own Happiness
“Everything you are seeking is within you already. You are the ONE.” — Kute Blackson
So, a long time ago, early in my career, I was given a very valuable piece of advice, “Read two books a month, and you will never lack for anything.” Somehow, being a practical guy, this made instant sense to me. I retained this piece of worthy information and did what most people don’t; I acted upon it and made it a habit. Interestingly (a fact released by Amazon) 70% of books bought never get read.
Anyway, I recently started subscribing to a service, Mentor Box. Two books a month are sent to me with summaries, workbooks and videos, to discuss interesting ideas, and practical ways to implement this new information. This month, one of the books, “You are the One” by Kute Blackson, instantly struck a chord within me.
Kute opens “You are the One” by describing his most moving experience when first traveling to India. On his way to the tree that Buddha so famously sat under, Kute came across a group of ten beggars. He naturally gravitated towards a singular beggar wearing a blue sash and wailing beautifully. As Kute watched, he was brought to tears by the passion the beggar put into his singing. Only after several minutes did Kute realize the man was not only blind, but missing all his limbs. How can this man be so grateful and filled with so much gratitude? Kute asked the beggar. His response was, “Young man, life might give you what you want. Life may never give you what you want. But you can give life that who you are.”
WOW!! That really struck me right in the heart. We are so quick to go through life expecting things to go our way. If we work hard, we expect to receive rewards, praise, money and recognition…right? But when things go badly, we are quick to blame others. It’s never our fault. We hold grudges; we blame; we resist. The reality is, we are responsible for our own happiness. We are 100% accountable for our own life, and when we finally realize that, it’s up to each of us to accept life as it is, not better, not worse, and be grateful and accepting for the experiences and learning. No matter how hard and difficult life is, we have the power to choose to be happy.
One of my favorite quotes is, “Happy is the man who loves what he has.” You are complete. Show the world who you are with all your flaws. You are in charge of living the most fulfilled life possible, if you just accept that you are enough. “Be the best version of you and never let the world bring you down, because you are AWESOME.” Kute Blackson.
Best day ever!
— Ralph