An excerpt from The Road to Happiness
When I travel on business, I like to talk to the taxi drivers who take me
from the airport to my hotel, or to a
convention center, or to a restaurant. Taxi drivers are often immigrants
with interesting personal histories and
unusual cultural backgrounds.
I ask them how long they've been in America, how they chose which city to
live in, and what they like best about
where they live. Of course, I also ask them for advice on good local
restaurants and any special attractions they'd
recommend to a visitor. I've had some great experiences on my travels,
thanks to the advice of taxi drivers!
On one trip about ten years ago, I was making conversation with the taxi
driver, asking him my usual questions about
how he came to live where he lived. Then I asked him a hypothetical
question: "If you could live anywhere in the
world-and if money was no object-where would you live?"
Without hesitating even for a second, he replied, "I live in my heart. So
it really doesn't matter where my body
lives. If I am happy inside, then I live in paradise, no matter where my
residence is."
I felt humbled and a little foolish for my question. Of course he was
right-happiness is an inside job. He had
reminded me of something I already knew, but had forgotten. If you can't
find happiness inside yourself,
you'll never find it in the outside world, no matter where you move.
Wherever you go, there you are. You take
yourself with you.
I am grateful for the wisdom of that taxi driver. And I'm grateful for all
the wisdom others have shared with me
about how to be happy.
When I travel on business, I like to talk to the taxi drivers who take me
from the airport to my hotel, or to a
convention center, or to a restaurant. Taxi drivers are often immigrants
with interesting personal histories and
unusual cultural backgrounds.
I ask them how long they've been in America, how they chose which city to
live in, and what they like best about
where they live. Of course, I also ask them for advice on good local
restaurants and any special attractions they'd
recommend to a visitor. I've had some great experiences on my travels,
thanks to the advice of taxi drivers!
On one trip about ten years ago, I was making conversation with the taxi
driver, asking him my usual questions about
how he came to live where he lived. Then I asked him a hypothetical
question: "If you could live anywhere in the
world-and if money was no object-where would you live?"
Without hesitating even for a second, he replied, "I live in my heart. So
it really doesn't matter where my body
lives. If I am happy inside, then I live in paradise, no matter where my
residence is."
I felt humbled and a little foolish for my question. Of course he was
right-happiness is an inside job. He had
reminded me of something I already knew, but had forgotten. If you can't
find happiness inside yourself,
you'll never find it in the outside world, no matter where you move.
Wherever you go, there you are. You take
yourself with you.
I am grateful for the wisdom of that taxi driver. And I'm grateful for all
the wisdom others have shared with me
about how to be happy.
