This quote is most often attributed to Dale Carnegie.
“Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.”
Success.
Happiness.
These are two things that seem to be the focus of many people’s lives.
I mean, as quotes go, probably the two most popular “starts” of quotes are”
“The secret of success is…”
AND.
“The secret of happiness is…”
In my life, I’ve never thought much about either. Maybe I’m stitched together differently than most people. In fact, I know I am. In that old Myers-Briggs test, I have the most uncommon personality type of all — INFJ. Anyway, for the most part, I stay in the middle of things. I don’t get highly emotional about much.
Which leads me back to the Carnegie quote.
Depending on what it is you “want,” success could either be a good thing, or a bad thing.
But to the “happiness” point. It seem to me that what Carnegie is describing is “contentment.”
That is how I view most of my life. Throughout the day, thousands of little, beautiful things occur, and these things bring me little moments of joy.
Do I jump up and down and shout with glee when the toaster does a miraculous job with my English Muffin? Of course not. But I recognize what a little gift that is to have food, a kitchen, a toaster, all coming together to afford me that pleasure, that privilege of that English Muffin.
So. Happy I am. If I am “playing” things by that quote.
Right at this moment, I am happy that I have the ability to type and that I have a nice office in a nice home in a free country. That I have a computer, and the electricity to run it. That there is such a thing as the internet, and I can share these words, at any moment, with the rest of the world.
So, happiness to me is being content, and noticing the million little miracles around me that make up my life.
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“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.” – Dalai Lama
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“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” – Marcus Aurelius
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“Success is not about being the best. It’s about always getting better.” – Behdad Sami
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