It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves

Authentic happiness is an inward journey that starts once we embrace our situation and appreciate the blessings in our lives.

Hello there beautiful people! My name is Ash Lamb, and this is The Visual Growth Letter. An illustrated newsletter about life and creativity.

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The pursuit of true happiness is often misunderstood.

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Many individuals mistakenly believe that external factors such as wealth, possessions, or relationships hold the key to everlasting happiness.

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While these external elements may provide temporary gratification, they fail to create a lasting sense of fulfillment.

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Authentic happiness stems from within and flourishes when we cultivate positive thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors. It is an inward journey that starts once we embrace our situation and appreciate the blessings in our lives.

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Don’t fall into the trap of conditional happiness. We often tell ourselves that we’ll be happy once we achieve X, Y, or Z which is never true because there’s always something else to pursue afterward.

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As Naval Ravikant coined, desire is a contract that you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want.

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It is quite impossible to unite happiness with a yearning for what we don’t have. Happiness has all that it wants, and resembling the well-fed, there shouldn’t be hunger or thirst. — Epictetus

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"This man has conquered the world! What have you done?"

The philosopher replied without an instant hesitation:

"I have conquered the need to conquer the world."

— Anonymous to Alexander the Great

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Now, don't get me wrong, you can't completely disregard the role of the external world in our pursuit of happiness.

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Your environment and relationships have a part to play, especially if you don’t have enough to survive, but once you’ve moved up the Maslow hierarchy of needs make sure to not rely upon external factors unless you want to be consistently let down and disappointed.

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Remember, genuine happiness isn't all about chasing after stuff or seeking approval from others. It's something that starts deep within ourselves, influenced by how we think and what we do. When you focus on finding contentment from within, you'll discover a deep and long-lasting sense of fulfillment, no matter what's going on around you.

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It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves. — Edmund Hillary

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Thank you so much for reading!

I truly appreciate your readership and support. Without you, this project wouldn't be the same. :)

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Great love and respect,

Ash Lamb

visualgrowth.com