It's the one thing everyone wants.

Few people seem to find it.

Fewer still know where to look.

For, happiness, that is.

I wasted more years than I wish to admit…

…wanting to be happy,
…not certain, when I was happy, whether I was really happy,
…and, even more uncertain where to find it.

Which is why I’m calling the book, Living Life Backwards. Had I known at twenty-seven what I know at fifty-seven, I would have lived the majority of my adult life quite differently than I did.

"So, have you found happiness now?" you ask.

Well, I’m pretty sure I have.

Is that ambiguousness unambiguous enough for you?

If it is not, stop here…read no more. Don’t bother to get the book, either. Why? It’ll just disappoint and frustrate you all the more. What you need is an answer-book. What this book is…is anything but.

If, however, you are a little more comfortable with ambiguity, I can say the following with a little more certainty:

Happiness is hard to find within yourself.
But it is impossible to find outside yourself.

So start there. That is, look inside, instead of outside.

That’s a very significant lesson.

One I learned the hard way.

For example, Jesus once told of man who found a treasure in a field. Jesus likened the treasure to the “Kingdom of Heaven.”

Here’s how the story went: While crossing an empty field one afternoon, a nameless, but quite familiar wayfarer stumbled over something. He had inadvertently, and unexpectedly, stepped on a "buried treasure," the value of which was so great, he went out, sold everything he had, and purchased the lot that housed this incredible find.

I don’t know about you, but I find it impossible to avoid the irony.

Here’s a guy out searching for happiness and he’s stepping on it at one-and-the-same time.

Like, “Duh!”

The very thing he was searching for had been there all the time. In other words, you cannot find what is not lost.

For most of my life, I’ve made this same lame mistake.

Haven’t you?

For example, I looked beyond me for years for what was beneath me all along. I searched outside myself for what could only ever be found inside myself.

Sound familiar? Want to know more?

Then, stick around. I’ll have more things to share later. Meanwhile, pay attention to what’s around you...and, above you…and, beneath you…and inside you. 

Happiness might be nearer than you think.