The Secret To Happiness

  Without getting religious, I can summarize how to achieve happiness in one word; Balance.  Ironically, the concept was first presented to me in chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes when I was sixteen.  No, I wasn't an avid bible reader, but Pete Seeger had put the scripture to music and in 1965, The Byrds made it into a hit song which I enjoyed as well as the message it contained.  Now that we know the secret, the trick is to accomplish it and for me that is a big task.  There are so many areas that we should balance and we don't.  A big one is our personality which we mostly have control over but we can blame some of it on our genetic makeup.  If I was controlled by my pet peeves (believe me, I have a lot of 'em), I would be a cranky, cantankerous old grouch.  On the other hand, if I meekly let everything roll off my back, I would be a spineless Marvin Milktoast.  So somewhere in between is an optimum balance that we should strive for to make us a better human being.  That goes for eating, playing, working, talking, and every activity we do.  The application of Balance can affect every aspect of our lives for good if we make a conscious effort to apply it to everything we do.  I bet you didn't know one word could have such a tremendous influence!

Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3:
1. To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2. a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3. a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4. a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5. a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6. a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7. a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8. a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.