All the Paths to Happy

I'm beginning to think it likely that there are many people who have figured out how to be happy. But they can't talk about it.

They know they've taken a highly individual path to the point where they've realized -- or decided -- they're happy. Very few have the ability to universalize their private experiences on this journey or even to remember how their minds and outlooks have been developing. Some religious figures have tried over the past 2,500 years and have sought to share their individual secrets. They are forced to speak in metaphors in order to make their path to happiness more accessible to others who have not undergone the same experiences. Quickly, however, most listeners begin to take the metaphors literally, and thus ruin them. The founders of the great world religions and the mystics of the religions inspired by these men have wanted others to be just as happy as they were, but they most often run afoul of the human tendency (laziness) to shun metaphor and seek absolute certainty.

So, it may amount to this: if you're happy, don't bother talking about it. Just live it. That's more than enough. Your example will probably be noticed, and those who aren't as advanced as you will take courage from the proof you offer that such a life is possible. Someone figured this out a long time ago and asked children to sing about it. To me the lyrics sound like a happy person doing his or her best to share the secret without offering a metaphor that would kill the message.