Courage to be happy

I had a good chat with a friend while he was giving me a lift home. [1] He took a BIG pay cut to move into his new job. He sold his car and gave up a lot of materialistic needs.... like the latest hp gadgets, branded shirts, etc. What i really admire about him is knowing about what he wants in life and going out for it. How many of us really know what we want in our lives and how to get it and then to go and get it. Is it really important to climb to that very top of the corporate ladder? He left from his previous company during his so-called "peak" where he took business class flights, drove a big car, paid his house in cash etc. But he wasn't happy. Men's greed is never-ending. When we had nothing, a dollar is enough. When we have $10, a dollar is never enough... and so our greed just keep mountaining and we always feel there is not enough. Do we really need so much??? Every cent we earn comes with a price tag - it's the opportunity costs in terms of time and effort that could be put elsewhere. At the end of the day, we will ask do all these made us happy?

And yet we still couped up in the rat race, spending more than 50% of our lifetime doing things that do not generate happiness, that do not make us happy. At the end of the day should anytime happens, no amount of money can give us what our hearts really desire and want.

I admire his courage to give up and to pursue for his happiness. It really takes a lot of courage to be happy. The courage to believe in future; to believe in ourselves; to control our thoughts and desires; to look for happiness and to share our happiness with others.

Are you happy?


Footnote:
[1]He gave me a lift in his father-in-law's car. He already sold his car.