We might look outside ourselves for sources of happiness. We may even be partially successful at obtaining the happiness we’ve come to know, expect and accept, making us think that we’re on the right path for true happiness. But this path is distracting us from the real path to true happiness.

The path to true happiness is a path that goes within, leading us to our true selves, which is the only place inspiration can originate. That’s why inspiration is such a powerful tool. Inspiration can be used as a fast track to re-discovering and sharing our true selves, especially when we’ve lost our way along that other elusive path to “happiness.”

In the following scenario, let’s explore the differences between the path to the happiness we’ve come to know, expect and accept and the path to the true happiness we desire and deserve.

Metaphorically close your eyes and imagine a hill. Picture a home on top, and imagine yourself inside the front room of this home, looking at your front door. You see an old-fashioned keyhole, big enough to look through. You approach the keyhole and discover a magical land of delight on the outside. In this world is everything you love doing, seeing and experiencing. You can see all of your favorite hobbies and activities. You see arenas and theaters filled with your favorite sports teams, musicians, and plays. You can see your favorite vistas from your favorite photos, trips and places you want to visit. You see cafés and dinner tables with your favorite foods and culinary experiences.

 

As you look intently though this keyhole, you see everything you enjoy about life spanning as far as your eyes can see. You take a step back from the door and look for the key to unlock it, but you can’t find it. You look around, check the drawers, counters, under the furniture cushions, the whole house… but you can’t seem to find it. Part of you feels like the key simply isn’t there for you to find, so you give up looking for it.

 

After we’ve looked everywhere outside of ourselves to no avail, this is the metaphorical moment we decide to make the best of the happiness that we think is available to us.

 

You look around the room in which you’re standing and decide to paint the walls, get new flooring, get curtains, and create a happy home. You might even add some additional rooms to expand, or maybe a second story, and you start to be so focused on decorating and furnishing your home, and getting all the stuff that makes it look and feel great, that eventually you forget about that outside world. You don’t see a point in looking for the key to access it because you are happy enough in your home on the hill, and you think it’s good enough. When you get bored, you just redo your kitchen or living room or build another addition.

The “pursuit of happiness” has become the equivalent of us decorating our life to be happy.

There’s nothing “wrong” with making the best of what you have, but the problem with this scenario is that this level of happiness is not all that is available to you. There’s that magical world out there, filled with true happiness, but that you no longer believe is attainable. But it is, and always will be. You just have to look in the right place for the key.

The key to true happiness is always within us. It rests deep within our true selves, which might have gotten a little buried along our journey of life thus far. There is a tool to quickly and easily find this key to unlock our true happiness—that tool is inspiration.

We do not need to settle for the happiness that we’ve come to know, expect and accept. Even when this happiness is “good enough,” we always know deep down we are missing out on a deeper and more meaningful experience of life. The longer we prolong asserting that we deserve true happiness, the less attainable it seems, and sometimes we forget its possible.

Until we decide to stop decorating our lives to be happy and let go of the happiness for which we have settled, we will be distracted from focusing on the real journey to the true happiness we desire and deserve.

You don’t have to look for the key to happiness outside of yourself. They key is always within you. Discover how inspiration is the tool that will outshine the happiness we’ve settled for and take us directly to the true happiness within us that is waiting to be rediscovered.