Quotes from a book I'm reading

These passages are from "The Geography of Bliss" by Eric Weiner

"Maybe happiness is this: not feeling like you should be elsewhere, doing something else, being someone else."

I badly needed to hear this at this point in time. It is a huge reminder that happiness comes from within, not from other people, things, or situations. There's no such thing as "I'll be happy when..." or "I'd be happy if..."

"Necessity may be the mother of invention, but interdependence is the mother of affection. We humans need one another, so we cooperate- for purely selfish reasons at first. At some point, though, the needing fades and all that remains is the cooperation. We help other people because we can, or because it makes us feel good, not because we're counting on some future payback. There is a word for this: love."

In our society there's often a lack of contact between people that seems to create a void in our lives. I've noticed that the more I need others and feel that they need me, the happier I am. If we try to be too independent and end up disconnected from others we lose opportunities to love and to be loved. We need each other!