True Wealth is Knowing What Gives You Joy

Luciana Jury | True Wealth is Knowing What Gives You Joy | What brings you true happiness? If you can answer this question, then you possess a priceless treasure.  This treasure cannot be equated to the fleeting feelings of enjoyment that we get while indulging in our favored food or cruising around in a shiny new automobile. Yes, these things will make you feel exhilarated for a little while, but once you’ve finished your food or given back your automobile, the issues that have been keeping you from being happy will likely start creeping back into your mind again. What we mean by “happy” here is the kind of contentment that serves as a haven in times of turmoil, allowing one to feel at peace with oneself and the world.

Some individuals discover that their connection to God is the source of their joy. For others, it may be as simple as starting a new hobby or embarking on a new activity. Many people even believe that their positions in life dictate their level of happiness. To what extent, though, do all these instill happiness? These may indeed add joy to life, and it seems a lot of people rely on them as their primary means of attaining happiness.  But without lasting inner peace brought by self-acceptance, one will not achieve true contentment in life.

Learning to accept oneself is the key that unlocks the real treasure that will carry us through all of life’s ups and downs. Nothing can genuinely satisfy or make us happy for very long until we accept ourselves first. We may express that self-acceptance in our connection with God, with people, or with things in our lives. This authentic joy comes from within and can’t be produced by external circumstances.

It has been championed by many psychologists that the relationship we have with ourselves is the most important one we can ever foster.  Self-love is a kind of love that is not selfish; rather, it acknowledges that each one of us is special and different from others and that our trials and challenges outside have nothing to do with who we are on the inside, the person with whom all our thoughts and feelings reside.

The inner self is unmoved by all sorts of obstacles that life may bring. That kind of peace and happiness is available to us once we accept ourselves unconditionally and value our precious selves for who we truly are. Ultimately, self-acceptance provides interior solace– the true wealth that no treasure on earth can compare with.