A 'Pursuit of Happiness' Life Lesson

The below story was emailed to me. I do not own it. If I find out who wrote it I will give credit, but for now I want to share it. As one who has walked selfishly through life with his eyes closed--one who has begun to be very aware of his actions and surroundings--I was struck by the idea that if we stop looking out only for ourselves we might find an opportunity to experience life in a different way.

Once a group of 500 people were attending a seminar.

Suddenly the speaker stopped and decided to do a group

activity. He started giving each person a balloon. Each

person was then asked to write their name on it using a

marker pen. Then all the balloons were collected and

put in another room.

 

The people were then let into that room and asked to

find the balloon which had their name written on it

within 5 minutes. Everyone was frantically searching

for their name, colliding with each other, pushing

around others and there was utter chaos.

 

At the end of 5 minutes no one could find their own balloon.

Then, the speaker asked each person to randomly collect a

balloon and give it to the person whose name was written on it.

Within minutes everyone had their own balloon.

 

The speaker then began,

 

"This is happening in our lives. Everyone is frantically

looking for happiness all around, not knowing where it is.

Our happiness lies in the happiness of other people.

Give them their happiness; you will get your own

happiness.

 

And this is the purpose of human life...the pursuit of happiness."