The Search for Happiness

Reflections

This short poem starts out by speaking directly to you—the reader: Go ahead and look for happiness, but don’t expect a perfect path. Over time, the acquisition of wisdom may help you find happiness, but there are no guarantees.

In the second stanza, the poet shifts to his own experience, acknowledging that happiness may prove elusive. As one metaphor for the search, he describes following a treasure map, only to find nothing there.

Never give up

But just because the search is difficult doesn’t mean one should give up. You can adjust your course along the way.

If your journey leads you somewhere unfamiliar—a strange, unsettled land—you can still choose to be happy in that moment. Happiness remains a choice, even when life doesn’t turn out as you had planned. In the end, this poem affirms the power each of us has over our own happiness.

Affirmation

Even when my world feels unsettled and uncertain, I do my best to choose happiness.