The Secret Key To Happiness Isn’t What You Think
The power lies within.
As my eyelids slowly fluttered open, I was hit by a world completely devoid of color. The darkness consumed me as I struggled to sit up in bed. A sharp pain in my side that left me gasping for air was the “reward” for yesterday’s mistake.
I had once again foolishly ignored the doctor’s warnings and had pushed myself too hard at the gym. The incision area from my cancer surgery was on fire as the pain radiated from the inside out.
Here we go again, I thought as I allowed the negativity to take hold.
Just when I start improving, I do something stupid that sends me straight back to the starting line.
The familiar dark and ominous cloud had formed over my head and was firmly in control now. With a frustrated sigh, I gently lay back down in bed and grit my teeth.
What’s the sense, I muttered to myself.
It is in this very moment that he appeared…
Have you ever started your day like this? Swimming in a sea of negativity before the day even begins. That was exactly the case for me this morning.
Following my cancer surgery, I have been desperately trying to get back into shape. I resent that cancer has invaded my body and am doing everything within my power to overcome its deadly impact.
Part of my strategy is lifting weights at the gym. It is something that my surgeon has warned me about, however, and has advised me to start very slowly.
He clearly doesn’t know me! I am an all or nothing kind of guy.
Predictably, I lifted too much yesterday and have badly aggravated the incision area from my surgery. The pain radiating from the spot tells me that it is going to be quite a while before I can get back to my plan.
This left me feeling frustrated and overwhelmed by feelings of negativity and pessimism. Cancer has once again won a “skirmish” and has left me seething in return.
Any feelings of joy or gratitude were pushed far off into the distance.
It is during these dark moments in life that we need to open our minds the most. If we listen hard enough, the message we need to hear will be delivered to set us straight.
Mine came today from my Uncle Mark.
Mark was probably the most positive and optimistic person I have ever met. Ten years ago, he was diagnosed with ALS and it came as a shock to us all. However, he approached his diagnosis with the same positivity and grace that had characterized his entire life.
The disease rapidly ravaged his body, but his stubbornly optimistic spirit remained. He would always say that he was the luckiest man on the planet.
He was eternally grateful for his life and the love that surrounded him. He cherished every single moment and tried to squeeze the most he could from his remaining time on the planet.
I would visit him in the hospital frequently, and on one such day, I took him by wheelchair to his favorite spot by the lake. There was a small nook by the shore which the township would later name Mark’s Lookout in his remembrance.
As we sat there in silence, I was struck by the sheer beauty of the moment and scene unfolding before my eyes.
The lake sat in perfect stillness as its surface captured the colors from the sky up above. The pure radiance of nature was on full display in all her glory.
The reverie was broken as I heard the machine that generated Mark’s voice break through the air.
“You know, Leonard” he rasped.
“I might not be able to throw a ball anymore, but I do get to look out at this every day. Most people don’t even notice, but I have a front-row seat. How lucky am I?”
His words would surely have taken almost anyone aback. How could a person in such a state possibly call themselves, “lucky?”
My Uncle Mark did not waste his precious moments stewing in a pot of cynical negativity. Instead, he had long since discovered the true secret to a happy life.
A heart filled with gratitude will unlock the door to true happiness.
As I lay motionless in bed, I am alone once again. The memories of Mark have disappeared as he slips back into the deepest corners of my mind.
He has left something behind from his visit though. The realization that nothing is ever as bad as it seems and every single day is bound to be filled with joy and beauty.
We just have to open our eyes.