Everyday Happiness

There was a time when I constantly compared myself to others. I saw people who had “made it” and felt as if I was standing still. I read books about success and money, but the more I tried, the more of a failure I felt. It wasn’t until I discovered meditation that something truly shifted – and I began to understand what happiness really is.

Happiness Isn’t What I Thought

For a long time, I believed that I could only be happy if I accomplished something great – if I proved my worth to both myself and the world. Intellectually, I could sense that this mindset was limiting, and that happiness should be something deeper. But emotionally, I couldn’t feel anything other than this constant struggle for validation, convinced that it was the only way my life could feel meaningful.

Thanks to meditation, I gradually came to realize that happiness isn’t tied to achievement at all. Life unfolds here and now, and when the mind is clear and still, there is already a natural sense of joy and peace in the present moment. These days, I can feel happiness even when things don’t go my way or when I think about the past and wish I had done things differently. This is because happiness doesn’t depend on external circumstances, but on a mind that is free from worry.

The Pursuit of Success – a Trap and a Turning Point

In my pursuit of success, I read countless books on entrepreneurship, career building, and making money. But I was far too caught up in myself, too anxious and stressed to put any of the lessons into practice – which only made me feel like even more of a failure.

Looking back, I can see that my expectations were unrealistically high, and my view of life was unforgiving. Every small misstep made me feel worthless. I became depressed, harshly self-critical, and began to hate myself. It was painful, but in the end, it became a turning point. It pushed me to start looking for other ways forward – and that’s how I finally found meditation.

Meditation – Letting Go

Meditation taught me to let go of the thoughts and images I had been carrying – about what is “good” or “bad,” “success” or “failure,” “happiness” or “unhappiness.” As I began emptying my mind of these concepts, it became clear how narrow and limited my old perspective on life had been.

It had been a very self-centered point of view. From that perspective, I could only be happy if I was “successful” – whatever that even meant. It wasn’t true, not at all. The more I let go of these thoughts – and the underlying fear of being worthless – the more I realized how meaningless it was to strive for “success” or “greatness” solely for my own satisfaction.

I came to understand that the world rests on principles like cooperation, coexistence, and gratitude. True success is about living in harmony with the world, while striving for success purely for personal gain goes against these principles and leads to suffering.

At the same time, I realized that I didn’t need to be someone special to be happy. That idea was simply a belief I had been deeply identified with, and when I finally saw it for what it was, I could let it go. Or perhaps more accurately – it was as if the idea let go of me. When that happened, I could breathe again, as though a heavy weight had been lifted from my chest. I still remember how I burst into laughter when, for the first time, I allowed myself to feel happy – without any particular reason.

Happiness as a Natural Consequence

When we empty the mind, our thoughts and actions naturally align with the principles of cooperation, coexistence, and gratitude. Everyone has their own path, but anyone who clears their mind through meditation will discover these same underlying truths.

Gradually, life stops revolving around our own “success” or “greatness,” or the constant maintenance of our self-image. Instead, we begin to accept where we are: our flaws, our past mistakes, and whatever lies ahead – both the good and the challenging. When the mind changes in this way, happiness arises on its own.

The reason happiness emerges is that the mind is no longer trapped in a chase for fulfillment, based on preconceived notions of what fulfillment should be. The constant struggle against ourselves ends. It becomes enough to live with an open mind and be genuine with ourselves. We can move through life naturally, without worry and with confidence.

No Conflict Between Success and Meditation

I want to emphasize that there is no conflict between being “successful” in the traditional sense and meditating. (In fact, I believe that many people who have come far in life often have a healthy outlook on life – it’s only with such a mindset that we can reach our full potential.)

The difference lies in how we perceive value. If our self-worth depends on achievements, material wealth, or status, we risk becoming prisoners of those external factors. Impressive achievements, material comfort, or social status may very well come as a natural result of how we live, but they are never the foundation of our self-worth or happiness.

When Everything Falls Into Place

Happiness in everyday life isn’t about being the biggest, the best, or constantly achieving more. It is already here, in both the small and the large things, all around us. We’ve all heard this from “wise” people – but it’s not something you can force. The path to happiness is about letting go of what’s in the way, above all the fear that we’re not enough as we are.

When the mind is free from demands and comparisons, we can finally live life as it is – and that’s exactly where happiness is found.

Michael