Happinessislikeapebbledroppedintoapooltosetinmotionanever-wideningcircleofripples. AsStevensonhassaid, beinghappyisaduty.
Thereisnoexactdefinitionofthewordhappiness. Happypeoplearehappyforallsortsofreasons. Thekeyisnotwealthorphysicalwell-being, sincewefindbeggars, invalidsandso-calledfailures, whoareextremelyhappy.
Beinghappyisasortofunexpecteddividend. Butstayinghappyisanaccomplishment, atriumphofsoulandcharacter. Itisnotselfishtostriveforit. Itis, indeed, adutytoourselvesandothers.
Beingunhappyislikeaninfectiousdisease. Itcausespeopletoshrinkawayfromthesufferer. Hesoonfindshimselfalone, miserableandembittered. Thereis, however, acuresosimpleastoseem, atfirstglance, ridiculous; ifyoudon’tfeelhappy, pretendtobe!
Itworks. Beforelongyouwillfindthatinsteadofrepellingpeople, youattractthem. Youdiscoverhowdeeplyrewardingitistobethecenterofwiderandwidercirclesofgoodwill.
Thenthemake-believebecomesareality. Youpossessthesecretofpeaceofmind, andcanforgetyourselfinbeingofservicetoothers.
Beinghappy, onceitisrealizedasadutyandestablishedasahabit, opensdoorsintounimaginablegardensthrongedwithgratefulfriends.