"The Happiness Myth"

My first published letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal is my favorite. In an editorial entitled “The Happiness Myth”, author Steve Salerno pointed out that some unfortunate souls are consumed by the pursuit of happiness, and are disappointed when they fall short of “having it all.” So I wrote: “I believe happiness is best expressed by a Zen quote: ‘The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He simply pursues his vision of excellence in everything he does, leaving others to determine whether he is at work or at play. To him, he is always doing both.’ My wife will have this expressed around the walls of our entertainment room, and it will make me very happy.” My friend Tim Lemmer, the Letters Editor, titled it “The Pursuit of Happiness Is Not a Myth for Him.”