When we talk about success we usually mean acquisition of wealth, power, and fame. Such accomplishments require selfish ambition that is potentially destructive and self-destructive. The Bible says, Where you have...selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. (James 3:16)
The craving mind brings only misery. The Bible says, A person is a slave to whatever he gives in to. (2 Pet. 2:19) Whenever you want more money, food, clothes, sex, power, medals, or titles, you fall into the hole of wanting, and you will find yourself descending into an abyss of greed. As you purchase your thirtieth pair of shoes, thirtieth tie or dress, you propel yourself toward the next purchase. And each time you buy more things, your soul shrinks to make room for them. Insatiability is the main ingredient of greed. There is never satisfaction in craving, except in craving for spiritual salvation. The Bible says, Desire God's pure word as newborn babies desire milk. Then you will grow in your salvation. (1 Pet. 2:2)
Greed is a trap. Consider this example. Monkey trappers in Central Asia make a hole in the side of a hollowed coconut and tie it to a tree. Monkeys are attracted to the treat, but when a monkey puts its hand into the coconut to grab at the contents, it becomes trapped because its clenched fist is too big to pull out of the hole. Although all the monkey need do to escape is relax its fist and let go of the goods, in its greed for the treat it won't unclench its fist. The trappers can then collect their pray. The lesson of this tale is obvious: Greed can cause your demise. This is why The Bible says to put to death whatever is worldly in you:...your greed (Col. 3:5) before it puts you to death. The purpose of seeking success or wealth is to be happy, but success and wealth do not necessarily bring happiness. Nor do poverty and failure, for that matter. You can be happy or unhappy no matter what your social or economic status. Learn to be content in all situations. Say with the Bible, I know how to live in poverty or prosperity. No matter what the situation, I've learned the secret of how to live when I'm full or when I'm hungry, when I have too much or when I have too little. (Phil. 4:12) So, what is that secret?
Wanting what you already have is the secret to happiness. If your measure of success is primarily accumulative in nature, you will not find happiness. Acquiring more of anything becomes cumbersome and cluttering, and more significantly, is self-perpetuating. It will weigh you down. Whatever satisfaction comes with "having" lasts briefly, leaving you feeling emptier than before your latest acquisition. "More" digs a bigger hole in the psyche, so that wanting becomes an insatiable desire. This is especially true for money. The Bible says, Whoever loves money will never be satisfied with money. Whoever loves wealth will never be satisfied with more income. (Eccles. 5:10)
Those who have money, power, and fame may seem to "have it all." However, those who have it all rarely are satisfied because there is no "all" when it comes to money, power, and fame. There is always more to have, and as long as there's more to have, there will be no contentment. The accumulation of anything is addictive and all addictions are insatiable. These addicted people are haunted by the vague sense of discomfort of having missed opportunities. There is no place to rest. There is no place to arrive. The acquisition of things and satisfaction and true happiness are measured on different, if not opposite, scales.
Happiness and prosperity are obtained not from having an abundance of things-not from overfeeding the ego, but rather from underfeeding it. The less you have on your plate (metaphorically and literally), the more space your soul has to expand, and to be nourished and enriched by its expansion. Real prosperity is the abundance of spiritual thoughts and deeds.
While satisfaction-material fullness-correlates with accumulative appropriation, happiness-spiritual fullness-correlates with disappropriation, with giving away. Fullness will flow into you in the measure you become empty. The Bible says, If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving-large or small-it will be used to measure what is given back to you. (Luke 6:38)
Happiness is a state that you reach by subtraction. It is wishing for what you have and still emptying out, a joyful disappropriation. Happiness is the feeling of owning everything while possessing nothing. It is in the Bible: People think we are sad although we're always glad, that we're beggars although we make many people spiritually rich, that we have nothing although we possess everything. (2 Cor. 6:10)
T. Byram Karasu, M.D. is the author of The Spirit of Happiness
