The Secret of Happiness
A man one day ran to his rabbi and said, “Rabbi, you have to help me! My house is hell! We live in one room, my wife, my children, my in-laws and me. It’s hell! There’s not enough room for all of us!”
The Rabbi smiled and said, “Okay, I’ll help you, but you have to promise to do whatever I say.”
And the man said, “I promise, I really promise! It’s a solemn promise!”
The Rabbi said, “How many animals do you have?”
“I have a cow, a goat and six chickens,” replied the man.
“Well” said the Rabbi, “Put the animals in the room and come back in a week.”
The man could not believe what he was hearing, but he had promised. He went back home depressed and brought the animals into the room. The next week, he went back very discouraged and said the Rabbi, “I’m going crazy! I’m going to end up having a stroke. You have to do something…”
And the Rabbi said, “Go back home and put the animals outside. Come back and see me again in a week.” The man went running back to his house. And when he came back the next week, his eyes were shining, and he said, “Rabbi, the house is so clean. It’s paradise!”
If you can be grateful for what you have got, you will find the secret of happiness.
