How to Achieve Long-lasting Happiness

How to Achieve Long-lasting Happiness
By Xuefeng
Last night, as I lay in bed, a strong sense of happiness washed over me. This happiness came from my bed and blanket. The bed was soft, and the blanket was thick. Lying on a soft bed, covered with a thick blanket, I felt so happy.
Why did I feel happy?
Because in the early 1980s, I once took a train ride near the end of the year. The train was overcrowded, with no seats available for over ten hours. People were packed in the aisles and even under the seats. Around 4 a.m., I was so tired and thought, "If I could have a bed to sleep in for the rest of my life, that would be so happy."
While in Vanuatu, I lived in a round, open room by the sea. It was hot, so I couldn't use a blanket, but the mosquitoes were numerous, so I had to cover myself with a sheet. At that time, I thought, "If I could sleep under a blanket every night, that would be so happy."
When I was in junior high school, I once had to walk over 60 kilometers to the county town to collect a mail package. There were no buses to the county town, and my family couldn't afford a bicycle, so I had to walk. I left at the third rooster crow and hadn't eaten anything by noon. I couldn't afford to eat in a restaurant since a bowl of noodles cost over a yuan, which was too expensive. About 10 kilometers from home, I was extremely hungry and thirsty. Suddenly, I saw a tomato on the road. I quickly picked it up, wiped it off, and devoured it. It was so delicious. At that moment, I thought, "If I could eat enough every day for the rest of my life, that would be so happy."
My family was poor. Even when I was in middle school, I had only one shirt to wear in the summer. If it got dirty, I had to wait until Sunday to wash it because I had no other clothes to wear. At that time, I thought, "If I could have a change of clothes, that would be so happy."
When I was young, especially in winter, we had to carry water from a spring several kilometers away using wooden buckets. Every household's first task in the morning was to fetch water. When I washed my face, I used the water my grandmother had already used. At that time, I thought, "If I could have a small basin of clean water to wash my face, that would be so happy."
During my youth, I often saw a boy from a neighboring village crawling on the ground because he was paralyzed from the waist down. He was always dirty and looked so pitiful. At that time, I thought, "If a person could have healthy limbs for their whole life, that would be so happy."
As a child, I often saw beggars, including children, middle-aged women, and elderly people, wearing tattered clothes, begging for food from house to house, with no place to sleep at night. I thought, "If a person could always have work to do and not end up begging for food, that would be so happy."
. . .
Having a bed to sleep in at night, being able to cover yourself with a blanket, eating enough, having a change of clothes, having a small basin of clean water to wash your face in the morning, having healthy limbs, and having work to do every day-life is so happy.
Are you happy?
December 22, 2023