Lots of people talk to animals... Not very many listen, though... That's the problem.
Benjamin HoffRead
A way of life that keeps saying 'Around the next corner, above the next step,' works against the natural order of things and makes it so difficult to be happy and good.
Interpretation
Constantly seeking happiness in what's next can hinder our ability to appreciate the present.
This quote suggests that a life focused on constantly looking for happiness in future events or achievements can disrupt our ability to find joy in the present moment. It highlights the importance of recognizing and embracing the current experience rather than perpetually chasing after a distant promise of happiness.
In practice
During a motivational speech about mindfulness and being present.
Lots of people talk to animals... Not very many listen, though... That's the problem.
The masters of life know the way, for they listen to the voice within them, the voice of wisdom and simplicity, the voice that reasons beyond cleverness and knows beyond knowledge.
How can you get very far, If you don't know who you are? How can you do what you ought, If you don't know what you've got? And if you don't know which to do Of all the things in front of you, Then what you'll have when you are through Is just a mess without a clue Of all the best that can come true If you know What and Which and Who.
The honey doesn't taste so good once it is being eaten; the goal doesn't mean so much once it is reached; the reward is no so rewarding once it has been given. If we add up all the rewards in our lives, we won't have very much. But if we add up the spaces *between* the rewards, we'll come up with quite a bit. And if we add up the rewards *and* the spaces, then we'll have everything - every minute of the time that we spent.
We don't need to shift our responsibilities onto the shoulders of some deified Spiritual Superman, or sit around and wait for Fate to come knocking at the door. We simply need to believe in the power that's within us, and use it. When we do that, and stop imitating others and competing against them, things begin to work for us.
And when you try too hard, it doesn't work. Try grabbing something quickly and precisely with a tensed-up arm; then relax and try it again. Try doing something with a tense mind. The surest way to become Tense, Awkward, and Confused is to develop a mind that tries too hard-one that thinks too much.
Happiness includes chiefly the idea of satisfaction after full honest effort. No one can possibly be satisfied and no one can be happy who feels that in some paramount affairs he failed to take up the challenge of life.
No money is better spent than what is laid out for domestic satisfaction.
Man is unhappy because he doesn't know he's happy. If anyone finds out he'll become happy at once.
One could be happy not only without love, but despite it.
Things which provide deep and lasting happiness and gratitude are the things which money cannot buy: our families, the gospel, good friends, our health, our abilities, the love we receive from those around us.
Happiness means nothing to me. I just want to have meaning and purpose.
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