A piece of mirror

I've started to clean my house and get ready for CNY.. also, to transform my house to a 'new fresh house' where only my son and i to stay in.. by this week, daddy has to move out..

I start of sorting out my old books and i found this book "A Piece of Mirror" from Daisaku Ikeda..

It's a very thin book but with loads of good thoughts and very motivational..

There are 23 short essays

and one caught my attention - What is happiness?

The quote of the first page is

"You will never find happiness if you don't challenge your weaknesses and change yourself from within"

So strong.. and yet not easy to follow..

And then it does asked What is the purpose of life? Simple answer :It is to become happy..

I was like.. huh?.. so simple?..hahhahahaha..

But i do read on..

Vulnerably.. i cried!.. it is so true!.. it is so so fucking true!..

It talks about.. how people see happiness thru their eyes bluntly in becoming financially secure or getting married to a wealthy and stable husband.. hmmmm...

But looking at friends or even myself who were married, that marriage did not necessarily guarantee happiness. We saw couples who had been passionately in love suffering from discord soon after their wedding.. (sound like me).. and women who had married men with money or status but who fought constantly with their husbands..

I come to realize that happiness doesn't exist in the past or in the future. It only exists within our state of life now.. here in the present, as we face the challenges of our daily life..

It does said that Happiness is not a life without problems, but rather the strength to overcome the problems that come our way.. TOTALLY AGREED!..

There is no such thing as a problem free life, difficulties are unavoidable. But how we experience and react to our problems depends on us.

Wow!.. and this is another strong statement..

"Absolute happiness, on the other hand, is something we must find within. It means establishing a state of life in which we are never defeated by trials, and where just being alive is a source of great joy. This persists no matter what we might be lacking, or what might happen around us. A deep sense of joy is something which can only exist in the innermost reaches of our life, and which cannot be destroyed by any external forces. It is eternal and inexhaustible.

This kind of satisfaction is to be found in consistent and repeated effort, so that we can say, "Today, again, I did my very best. Today, again, I have no regrets. Today, again, I won." The accumulated result of such effort is a life of great victory.

What we should compare is not ourselves against others. We should compare who we are today against who we were yesterday, who we are today against who we will be tomorrow. While this may seem simple and obvious, true happiness is found in a life of constant advancement. And, the same worries that could have made us miserable can actually be a source of growth when we approach them with courage and wisdom.

Phew!.. OK!.. am all out for you.. HAPPINESS!!..