We all want to be happy
So, you want to be happy
You desire contentment
You are not alone
But what is happiness for you
Is it an inner state
Confined to a cocoon you have built around yourself
Inhabited only by loved ones and friends
Containing all your trappings of material wealth
Is your engagement with the world outside your cocoon
Driven by the desire to
Increase your wealth
Exercise dominion over others
Stoke your sense of superiority
If so, may I respectfully suggest
You are caught in a syndrome of illusory happiness
You have trapped yourself in a subterranean world of emptiness
Of which you are aware only in moments of painful honesty
Moments you try to avoid
Maybe you are successful in avoiding
I hope, for your sake, you realise one day
That real, continuing personal happiness is connected
Inextricably and intimately
To the happiness you leave in your wake
In the hearts of people
Outside your cocoon
You might not know them at all
Or they might be hidden
Sometimes in plain sight
Turn your attention to the world around you
It is there you discover the true nature of happiness