WHAT IS THE KEY TO HAPPINESS?

HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE

" HAPPINESS STARTS WITH YOU NOT YOUR RELATIONSHIP, NOT YOUR JOB,NOT WITH YOUR MONEY, BUT WITH YOU"

If you are like most people, it is made up of countless bits and pieces of fragmented activity: exercise, work, eating, conversations, entertainment, sleep. Add up the pieces day after day, year after year, and you end up with an entire life split into millions of fragments, with no connecting thread. Fragmentation rattles our peace of mind, creating untold tension and anxiety. Over time, the fragments pile up and begin to suffocate your soul, the inner you that craves focus, purpose and direction. Is it any wonder that after forty or fifty years of slogging through such disjointed days we wake up and suddenly wonder, “Is this what life is about? Am I really happy?”



The Key to Happiness: Uniting Body and Soul

To be a happy, wholesome and healthy person, your body and soul must work in perfect harmony. This means uniting the body and soul to fulfill the mission for which we were all put on earth: to lead a meaningful, productive, and virtuous life by making this physical world a home for G-d.

The body and soul, however, are in constant conflict: the body basically looking to satisfy its needs with the soul looking for transcendence and unity. The first step in dealing with this conflict is to acknowledge that the struggle exists, and be aware of the two distinct forces. Thinking that we are a single entity leads to confusion and despair: One day we are virtuous and the next we are selfish; one day we are motivated, the next we procrastinate.

The only way to unite body and soul is to accept that G-d is far higher than our limited selves. The soul, because of its transcendent nature, can rise above selfishness more easily than the body, and can discipline the body, through study and prayer, to recognize its true mission. Only then can the body rise to its true prominence — when it serves as a vehicle for the soul instead of acting under its own power, with its selfish wants and needs. Once the body recognizes the soul’s dominance and makes peace with its twin sister, the tension can be properly harnessed.

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