Back in the days, I use to see happiness with the mindset of physical achievements i.e. the amount of money one has gotten, certificates acquired from the academic world, landed properties, cars and the number of livestock’s we have. I have based happiness on these things before now until I got the opportunity to have a one on one chat with a man in my area who we all see as a happy man because of how wealthy he is.
I would have loved to mention his name but because of privacy I will not, rather I will share what I learnt from the chat I had with him. I have seen in movies where a man with all his wealth will walk into a bar and soak himself so hard on alcohol not because he wants to enjoy himself rather because his heart is not at peace. I use to doubt that someone with such wealth will still not have a heart of happiness but after the chat I had with this man in my area, it became clearer that happiness does not come from outside rather it comes from within.
During our chat, I asked him a question which I will ask you now. What makes you happy? I did not just bump into this wealthy man on the streets I met him in a bar where I went to cool off after the days hustle. I was surprised when he walked up to me and asked if he could join me. I gladly said yes because drinking alone sometimes reduces happiness. As he ordered his first drink, I saw the way he gulped it all almost immediately and I took note of that because I have always known that one cannot just rush a bottle of beer like that no matter how thirsty one is.
Before I could understand what was happening, he had already taken four bottles in less than 30minutes, this got me worried and curious. I asked him so politely if all was well with him. At first, he looked at me to ascertain if I was asking genuinely or because I just want to mock him. After some time, he looked at me again and said; “what is your name, my friend?”
I looked up and told him my name after which he kept quiet for some time before talking again. This time he was looking more sternly into my eyes and I was a bit afraid though I had to hide my fears which made me look straight into his eyes without winking. The next thing that came out of his mouth got me very worried because he just asked me this question; “are you happy?” At first, I had to assimilate the question to understand where he was coming from but as I was still trying to understand him, he just looked at me again and with a louder voice he said; “is your heart happy?” At this point, I understood what he was asking me which made me tell him my heart was happy.
He looked at me again and said that he thought I was unhappy which was why I came out to drink alone. I smiled and told him that I just wanted to seat out alone even though I know that any of my friends might just walk into the bar because it was a regular place for us.
Something in me told me to ask him what was bordering him and I asked did. His response got me even more worried. He said that his heart has never known happiness or true peace of mind. I asked why he said that. He looked at me and said; “I know you will not believe that because you see me as a wealthy man in this area but my friend, wealth or riches is not happiness”. I was dumbfounded because for me I have been seeing him as a happy man just as he said.
I was moved to ask him why he is unhappy. He just looks at me and shook his head and said that he has been living his life just to impress others because as a wealthy man, he could not do whatever he wanted to do. He told me that I could come out here at any time to drink and relax but for him, he could not because people expect to see him in exotic bars and not local bars like the one we were seated in.
I looked at him with pity because I was even surprised when I saw him walking into the bar so I affirmed what he said. After listening to him talk for some time it became so obvious that his wealth is not giving him the desired happiness. In the things he said, I picked one important thing that most of us who are still working so hard to get to that level of wealth do not consider.
Let me ask you; have you ever taken a minute of your time to ask yourself if that thing you are working for will give you true happiness? When he asked me this question, I became quiet because I have never thought of such let alone asking myself such a question. After all, I was believing that wealth will give me happiness.
I want you to think about it today. Are you sure you will get true happiness when you acquire that wealth you are looking for? After chatting with the man, I understood what people mean whenever they say that true happiness comes from within and not from physical things. Money and every property you can think of may give you momentary happiness but if you do not have a heart filled with true happiness, I bet you will always feel unhappy. Seek true happiness.
