"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."  *-- Marcel Proust 

"Try to make at least one person happy every day. If you cannot do a kind deed, speak a kind word. If you cannot speak a kind word, think a kind thought. Count up, if you can, the treasure of happiness that you would dispense in a week, in a year, in a lifetime!" *-- Lawrence G. Lovasik

"Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.  It is far better to take things as they come along with patience and equanimity."  *-- Carl Jung

---

At times Marty made it seem too easy. On a visit to his home I heard him say, "People need to decide to be happy." I pressed him. "What do you mean by that?"

His face took an incredulous look. "You have to ask me?" At that moment I felt a little foolish. Complex human problems, at least to me, often prevent people from being happy. To Marty it was a matter of common sense. I wondered, what I was missing? "C'mon, Marty," I said, "do you really think people can actually decide to be happy?"

"Who makes decisions for you?" Marty asked me. "All my life I've watched people waiting for someone else to make them happy. The way I got it figured, the only one who can make you happy is you."

As I considered his point, my mind began to wander. Strangely, I thought of an old "Peanuts" cartoon-the one which Lucy asked Charlie Brown, "Why do you think we were put on earth?" Charlie Brown answered, "To make others happy," "I don't think I'm making anyone happy," Lucy replied, "but nobody's making me very happy either." Then Lucy screamed out, "Somebody's not doing his job!"

I smiled at that moment, thinking Marty had something in common with Charles Schultz, the creator of the "Peanuts" cartoon. Both seemed to be saying that it was silly to expect other people to have such an influence over our lives.

That was Marty's third lesson: Only you can make you happy.

Even in the autumn of his life, Marty worked. He wanted the company's health benefits as much as the wages. Sure, he enjoyed his job, but he felt he needed to work. Before I met Marty he had suffered a heart attack and prostate cancer. When he talked about these problems, though, it was to tell me about all the cards his fellow employees had sent to him.

In my lifetime I had seen people in similar circumstances grow angry. Bitterness took hold of their lives and choked them. "I never had much money, and I don't think I ever will," Marty said. "People think they need to have a lot of things to make them happy. They ought to look around and see what's really important."

When Marty looked around, he saw the most beautiful girl in the world as his wife, four children who loved him, a home he was proud of, and a job that made him feel alive. He was happy because, in his mind, he had it all. 

"People need to decide to be happy."

Written by:
The Richest Man in Town : V.J. Smith
The Richest Man in Town is a true story that captures the important things in life in an unforgettable way.  It is beautifully written and will make you laugh, make you cry, but most importantly, will make you reflect on what life is about.

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