Pursuit of happiness

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I used to read to my young children a bedtime story about a wood cutter and his wife who were poor, and who wished they were better off in order to be happier. To their delight, a magical creature appears, saying she will grant them three wishes. So they consider all the things they could ask for more of: to be better looking, to have more money, to have a long life…the list goes on. Yet looking longingly at the warm fire, his wife absently wished for some sausages for dinner. The woodcutter was so angry with his wife for wasting a wish, he wished for the sausages to be stuck on her nose. His wish was granted. He then felt he had to use his third and last wish to free her from that predicament.

This simple folk tale resonates deeply with the human quest for happiness, a pursuit often marred by the instant appeal of temporary worldly pleasures.

When Thomas Jefferson former US President was old and asked,“what’s the secret of happiness?” he would respond with a passage from Cicero, a Roman statesman and philosopher. Cicero considered that happiness was a tranquil mind and that it was not material possessions but one’s character that determined the attitude to happiness.

 And so to help his own granddaughters find happiness,Jefferson drafted 12 virtues of character, including prudence, wisdom, and temperance. Temperance conveys ideas of moderation and holding back.

A month of fasting is a time every year when I consciously hold myself back rather than acquiring more. In the book Muslims turn to for guidance, the Qur'an, God says, "O you who have believed, fasting is decreed upon you as it was decreed upon those before you, that you may become mindful" (Qur'an 2:183). For me, it is a month-long opportunity to reconnect with the timeless teachings of the Creator contained within theQur’an and to rediscover self-restraint and gratitude.

And it is through working on those characteristics that Ican become more deeply mindful of something so much greater than myself. I find having less rather than more contributes to a tranquil mind.

Meanwhile, the woodcutter and his wife both realised they were content with what they had, and were also happy to strive with their own efforts. One sausage – these days probably plant-based - at a time.

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