The Recipe for True Happiness

Living Emunah 3002 The Recipe for True Happiness Everybody wants happiness, but what exactly is happiness, and how do we get it? If someone is happy with his house, he's not going to be looking around for another house. If someone's happy with his family, he's not going to be looking around at other families. When a person is truly happy with what he has, he doesn't look around to see what everyone else has, and he doesn't become jealous of them. Happiness comes from a feeling of satisfaction, a feeling of being full. It's possible, even in physicality, to experience that feeling, at least momentarily. If someone, let's say, wins the lottery, at that moment he'll feel that his bank account is full. He doesn't need anything else. He'll feel content and he'll be happy. But when it comes to physicality, that feeling wears off quickly. Before long, he'll be back to wanting more and once again feeling lacking. Hashem gave us an incredible gift that enables us to feel happy all the time. He gave us a mission in life. He gave us Torah and mitzvot and the ability to fulfill that mission every second of the day. We constantly have the ability to experience the feeling of being full, the feeling of accomplishment. I did another mitzvah. I learned another word of Torah. I did another act of chesed. I prayed another tefillah. I overcame another challenge. Every one of those accomplishments is another step toward the purpose for which I came into this world. And there is no limit to how much a person can accomplish. He can keep doing more and more, constantly filling his life with real meaning. This feeling of accomplishment can give a person a constant source of happiness. But what about the things in life that really bother people? Perhaps a person wishes he had more money. Perhaps he's unhappy with his spouse, or there's something else in his life that he wishes were different. For this, Hashem gave us another precious gift: the gift of emunah. Knowing that Hashem is the One who gives us everything we have, and He is the One who knows exactly what we need. He knows our purpose in this world, and He knows exactly what we need to fulfill it. And if we internalize that, then we can always be happy. The wife that I have is the wife Hashem handpicked for me because she's exactly what my neshamah needs. The amount of money that I have is exactly what Hashem determined I need right now to fulfill my purpose. And if I needed more, Hashem would have given me more. Once a person truly believes this, he can feel full and satiated. And this feeling of satiation is one of the most wonderful feelings a person can experience—the feeling of true contentment. As the Mishnah says in Pirkei Avot, " אֵיזֶהוּ עָשִׁיר? הַשָּׂמֵחַ בְּחֶלְקוֹ — Who is truly wealthy? Someone who is happy with what he has." How can I be happy with what I have? Because I know Who gave it to me—the One who loves me more than I could ever imagine, the One who knows my purpose and exactly what I need to fulfill that purpose. The knowledge that I have everything I need right now brings a person true satisfaction and happiness. Hashem has given us all the tools we need. He gave us Torah and mitzvot, and He gave us the gift of emunah. With these gifts, we can go through life full of purpose, full of meaning, and full of the knowledge that Hashem has given us everything we need. And that is the recipe for true happiness.