What Does It Take to Be Happy?

Is it all about the physical things? I knew it wasn’t, but what I was about to experience made it real.

I don’t want much, just a place to live, a reliable car, a job that pays well and clothes I want to wear.

These are all physical things. Where does the list end? If I had everything on the list, would I really be happy?

The trip of a lifetime

Some years ago I was blessed to be awarded a six-week sabbatical from my job to do whatever I wanted to do. I decided to travel, and I visited Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. The trip was four weeks long and included countless adventures.

I would have never suspected it, but my most lasting lesson and memory of the trip came in the final four days.

The country of Fiji

We arrived at the airport in Fiji and were met by a luxury bus. We all climbed aboard and sank into the blue plush seats, as a great deal of attention was given to our arrival. With the sparkling sunshine outside, the small cool bottles of Fiji water that the guide handed us were so refreshing. Next, a seashell necklace was put around each of our necks.

As we left the airport and started down the road, I was completely unprepared for what I saw. Our luxury bus seemed out of place on the road in the midst of rickety vehicles with piles of people in the back. Many people were also on the road on foot.

The bus made slow progress, as we paused to let a herd of pigs cross the road and then later another herd of animals. My gaze was glued to the window beside me, taking it all in. What would the next few days be like?

Royal treatment

As we arrived at our destination, we were greeted by traditionally attired locals who worked at the resort. Each of them had a genuine, heartfelt smile on his or her face, and I felt like they really were happy to see me. Everywhere I walked around the resort, employees greeted me and gave me that genuine smile. The locals had their hearts in their work and in serving our every need.

At the end of the shift, I saw a group of the resort employees pile into the back of a rickety vehicle and embark on their journey home.

A twinge of guilt came over me. Here we were in this country, being treated like royalty, yet these people were living in very poor and, by our standards, primitive conditions.

As our days at the resort went by, I continued to notice that the employees serving us were genuinely happy. They had few physical possessions, yet they were always cheerful, with a happiness that felt so real.

How could these people have so little physically, yet be genuinely happy?

Being content

The most lasting lesson of my very wonderful, but very physical, sabbatical trip came in the realization that it is not all about the physical things. The local people of Fiji who served us truly exemplified the exhortation in Philippians 4:11: “For I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.”

Barbara Lee attends the Twin Cities, Minnesota, congregation of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, and works as an IT business analyst in the financial services industry. She is a musician and an exercise enthusiast in her free time.

For more about contentment, see:

• Making Every Day a Day of Thanksgiving
• Harnessing Happiness: Battling the Thens and Whens
• Are You Getting Ahead, or Just Getting More?