There is a story about two men who encounter each other walking along a country road. One of them, a wealthy nobleman, has a bag slung over his shoulder and dejected expression on his face. The second man, a beggar, asks him why he’s so depressed. “I’m looking for happiness,” says the nobleman. “I’ve tried everything—I’ve had wealth, power, position, education, lots of women, but I’m still, like, totally angst-ridden. So the other day I finally threw some stuff in a bag and set out to find myself.”
“Ah.” says the beggar. “I see.” Then, without warning, he grabs the nobleman’s bag and rushes off into the forest. He cuts through the rugged terrain until he’s some distance ahead of his distraught victim. Then, when he sees the nobleman coming, he leaves the bag in the center of the road and hides behind a rock to watch.
Naturally, when the rich man sees his bag, complete with everything he was carrying when he lost it, he goes nuts with joy—jumping around, singing hallelujah, all that. The beggar, still hiding behind his rock, yells, “Strange, what it takes for some people to find happiness.”
from The Joy Diet by Martha Beck
