All over the world, and particularly in the United States, people identify the concept of success with having a lot of money, achieving fame, having a good career, finding your true love, raising a family, owning your own home, possessing all the things you ever wanted, being able to retire, and things like that. But countless people have achieved these goals only to find themselves feeling unhappy inside more often than they thought possible. They wonder if there is supposed to be more to life than all those things, or if they just missed a secret somewhere along the line.
I would begin by equating real success with undisturbed peace of mind. I would follow that up by equating true peace of mind with happiness because if you’ve ever been really peaceful for a significant period of time, you know how happy you feel inside when you’re in that state. Nobody on earth is ever peaceful 100% of the time, but truly successful people know how to return themselves to a state of peace relatively quickly whenever they become disturbed. This ability transcends all types of possessions and achievements, and it does not depend on anything for its continuing...