Father Alo writes...

Happiness in Life

A friend of mine Lolita is a beautiful woman who is also quite wealthy. She is a surgeon. Her husband is one of the directors of a huge company. In January during my holiday, I had a chance to meet with her. She took me to see few properties that belong to the family. They worth more than ten million US dollars. She took me also to an expensive restaurant for lunch. After dropping me back to the presbytery where I stayed, she asked me to have a private talk. She began by saying: “I am not happy”. Then she continued: “I couldn’t sleep, I suffer anxiety and everything is meaningless for me”. I tried to help her by listening to her and gave some simple advices. Then She went home.

Lolita’s life is totally different to Kartila’s life. Kartila is the cook for the priests in the presbytery where I stayed. I met her the next day. She came up with her story: “You know Father, my husband died of heart attack. Few months later, my only son was killed in a road accident. I had nobody, I had nothing left. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t eat, I never smiled at anyone. I even thought of taking my own life. However, one day, when I came to the presbytery, I saw the priest’s dog here was hungry and very skinny. This dog used to be looked after by Bamabng, the house cleaner. But I don’t think he still looks after her. Without asking Bamabng about the dog, I decided to look after the dog since that day. I could see the dog was happy and came back to life. It makes me happy. I was thinking, if I could do this that makes me happy, I can do things for others that will make me happy too. Then I decided to bake some cakes for an old lady next door who has been sick for a long time. I brought the cakes to her home and she was happiest person I have ever seen. These two experiences of ‘giving’, made me a happy person ever since. I could sleep well and smile again to everyone I meet”. These two different stories remind me of one paragraph of an article I read before: “The beauty of life doesn’t depend on how happy you are, but on how happy others can be because of you. Happiness is not a destination; it is a journey. Happiness is not tomorrow; it is now. Happiness is not a dependency; it is a decision. Happiness is who you are; and not what you have” Have a blessed day. Alo Lamere MSC