A Worth-While Happiness Thing

The most worth-while thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others.

Robert Baden-Powell

According to Psychology Today , “happiness is not the result of bouncing from one joy to the next; researchers find that achieving happiness typically involves times of considerable discomfort.” The discomfort from the pursuit of perfection and the desire to obtain things that are constantly out of reach do not help with happiness. Maybe that’s why the Japanese have wabi-sabi (侘寂) as part of their world view which embraces and accepts transience and imperfection. “Wabi-sabi nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect.” Comforting.

About the author

Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell , (22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder and first Chief Scout of the world-wide Scout Movement, and founder, with his sister Agnes, of the world-wide Girl Guide / Girl Scout Movement. Baden-Powell authored the first editions of the seminal work Scouting for Boys, which was an inspiration for the Scout Movement.