Do Any Happy People Do This Thing?

Yesterday I started reading Kamal Ravikant’s book, Rebirth: A Fable of Love, Forgiveness, and Following Your Heart. From the book summary:

After the death of his estranged father, Amit takes his parent’s ashes to the Ganges to fulfill a deathbed promise. Instead of returning home, he wanders, his pain and grief leaving him confused about his future. Almost broke, unsure about his direction in life, and running from memories, he is led by fate to the Camino de Santiago, an ancient 550-mile pilgrimage route across northern Spain.

On Day One of his pilgrimage, Amit makes the following observation:

At the restaurant last night, when drunken pilgrims started sharing their reasons for this walk, all seemed to be going through something. Do any happy people do this thing?

I was struck by that question, “Do any happy people do this thing?” It occurred to me that if we were always comfortable and happy, we would probably never change anything or try something new. Why would we? We’re content with what we have.

But difficulties and challenges force us to look at our lives and consider ways in which we need to change. From this, we try new things and have new experiences. And sometimes those new experiences bring us into the best journeys of our lives.

Posted on 2017-02-04   #Books     #Camino de Santiago     #Happiness     #Kamal Ravikant     #Pilgrimage     #Reading     #Travel