Here is your Friday STORY on: HAPPINESS: No matter what you have, or DON'T HAVE, happiness comes from within you. If happiness could be bought you wouldn't see so many people searching for it in all sorts of things (drugs, alcohol, physical pleasure, etc.). However, lacking happiness also cuts across all lines. The poorest of the poor and the richest of the rich can be unhappy. The choice to be happy comes from inside you and is not dependent on who you are, what you do, where you live and how much money you have. Choose to be happy and you will be. A tale of kingdoms past is where our story takes us today, but the message is clear… THE KING WHO HAD EVERYTHING “He had a large kingdom, much wealth, a beautiful queen, and beautiful children. He was well loved by his subjects, and his kingdom was not at war with any neighbouring kingdoms. But one day the king became sad and disconsolate. At first the jester was called in to cheer the king, but he was of no use. Then the minstrels were brought in, also to no avail. The king's advisors brought in entertainer after entertainer, but none could cheer the king. A few days later, the king fell ill and took to his bed. The best doctors were called, but none of the remedies they prescribed were of any help. At long last they brought in the court wizard. He performed a series of incantations, and then declared, "The king must wear the shirt of a truly happy man. Only that will cure him." Messengers and couriers were sent out in haste to find a truly happy man. They scoured the kingdom for a happy man. One by one they began to return with the news that they could not find such a man. Then, when all seemed lost, the last courier came running through the palace. While he had not found a happy man, he had heard tales of just such a man that lived deep in the king's forest on a small farm. Though he was weak, the king rose from bed, dressed, and rode with an entourage out into the forest. He arrived at the farmhouse late that night. Though it was not messy, it was apparent that the people who lived here were very poor. Nonetheless, the king knocked on the door and told the woman that answered that he had come to see her husband. She replied that he was fast asleep, but that she would wake him. After several minutes, a man came to the door wrapped in a blanket. The king explained his situation and told the man that he needed his shirt. At this the man began to laugh. The king grew angry, but this only caused the man to laugh more. Finally, the king demanded to know what was so funny. At this the man removed the blanket he had wrapped around him to show that he was so poor that he had no shirt.” (Unknown Author). QUOTE: “The very purpose of our life is happiness: in order to achieve happier days, happier weeks, happier years, happier family, happier human community… we should pay more attention to inner development.” (His Holiness the Dalai Lama).