A passerby notices a man searching for something at the base of a streetlamp late at night.
“Lost something?” he asks.
“Yes,” answers the man, “a large sum of money…”
“Where did you lose it?” asks the stranger.
“Somewhere down there,” says the man, pointing towards the opposite end of the dark street.
“Then why are you searching around this lamppost?” asked the puzzled stranger.
“Because down there it is dark, and here it is light!
Humorous as it is, how often do we do the same? We search for what we’re pursuing where it would be easiest to find, but not where it would actually be found.
In a quest for happiness, we turn to where things dazzle, where people smile. But what we fail to realize is that a smile is merely a symptom of happiness, not the cause; it’s not going to lead us to the source of satisfaction we’re seeking.
Indeed, happiness is not an action, it’s a deep emotion. And an authentic sense of joy must be founded on something meaningful, for it is in the absence of purpose that happiness falls away.
Like the missing object, fulfillment is found where it’s been lost.
Let’s take a moment to move out of the spotlight; let’s begin to search inside ourselves for that purposeful reality that promises to bring us true and everlasting happiness.
Takeaway: Happiness isn’t pursued, it’s uncovered. It’s simply a symptom of purposeful and meaningful living.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Mendy
