We are all driven to make a difference in this world. The tragedy is that so many of us have lost our way. We have become blind to our true mission by an obsession with busyness. We confuse money as a metric for quality of our contribution.

We may be sad or unfulfilled and not realize it is because we are not attempting to help the rest of the world. We may feel empty and try to fill that emptiness with stuff that has the opposite of the desired effect. It’s not a simple problem, nor is it easy to overcome, but at it’s root the problem is this:

You strive to be happy rather than striving to create happiness.

It is a problem of personal orientation in which people perceive themselves to be the recipient of the effects of  the world around them rather than a participant or contributing actor. We must act to make the world better.

The more complicated part in this all is that you must gravitate toward the area where you are most effective. This can take some time and great effort, but in that way you will find your Flow.

A focus on happiness—mottos and mantra that push you to maintain a positive attitude—will be problematic if you are not foremost insisting that you make significant and meaningful contributions to the world around you. It is our duty as human beings.

The reward for fulfilling that duty of contribution is peace of mind, enlightenment, and yes, happiness.