A little while ago I posted on my Facebook page that “You should never look for something external to bring you happiness or peace. You should find both within yourself.” I am far from the first person to realize this truth. If you have to depend on something or someone to bring you happiness, you are not warmed inside by your own fire, but warmed less and only temporarily by something you do not control.
Of course, I then followed that comment by saying how happy I was to learn that my baby, Bjorn, had won his part of a dog show this morning and that I was smiling and smiling.
Bjorn is a handsome dog and I love him dearly. I am happy he won today, but he is not a better dog on days he wins or a lesser dog when he does not win. My happiness in Bjorn is that he is my dog, that he loves me, that he is a happy and social soul who makes everyone around him smile…. and then I wonder what he sees that allows him to love me.
It is love for and from my dog, for and from my family, and the visible love and support from my friends (as in the likes and comments on my post) that truly bring me happiness and peace. That fire is within.
It is that fire, that strength, that allows you to run the race, to finish when you are sure you cannot, to live a good life. No one can tell you whether you will “win” in the end, but no one can control how you run the race of life except yourself.
