Besides love, perhaps happiness is the most misunderstood and elusive state of being. Don’t believe me? Then ask Tony Robbins and his financial planner. Americans alone use millions of hours and ten billion dollars every year attempting to find it in their lives, and spend a countless amount of time and money on contrivances to distract themselves from a troubled existence. Yet, our search is a wasted effort that would not exist if we simply understood one thing about ourselves:

You can stop spending your money because happiness does not really exist. It is just a word, a myth we use for coercion. Our pointless pursuits are only a distraction from the real meaning in life, which is in the living itself — not our labels.

Only the development of compassion and understanding for others can bring us the tranquility and happiness we all seek.