Inner Happiness

True happiness is not the fruit of external esteem, professional success, or the crowd's affection. Rav Kook writes about this in countless places, among them the passage I brought yesterday about the illuminating soul: the essence of the light flows from the recognition of one's own selfhood. The more a person learns to listen to himself, to identify the inner voice and express it with courage and integrity, the more there is revealed in him a source of joy that depends on nothing. It is precisely when we do not need the approval of people that the divine light within the soul is revealed, and it is what fills life with meaning, creativity, and blessing. The more we find happiness deep within ourselves, the more we spread light and good to the world.