I knew a man once many years ago. By all accounts he seemed so happy; a good job, a beautiful wife and a house in the woods.

He was the CEO and founder of a local technology consulting firm. In those days, companies were struggling to keep pace with their foreign counterparts. He had the answer, and the answer was ‘easy’. The rest was history, as they say.

I’d known him always to be gracious and self-assured. No problem was ever too big, nor any terrain too difficult to traverse. His clients loved the ease by which his optimism was conveyed. “I never let them worry alone,” he’d proudly say.

Day after day he placed the needs of others before his own. Until one day when I received his call, “I just can’t do this any more.”

We talked into the night, as he shared his regrets. “I just don’t understand. How could something I love become something I hate?”

Thigh Nhat Hanh once referenced the ‘hungry ghost’ within us all. “We are hungry for love, we are hungry for understanding. We are hungry for stability, for freedom, and that is why we have been running all the time.”

In all those years, he hadn’t once paused to rest; to replenish the well that was continuing to give.

In all those years, he hadn’t once ‘returned home.’

It’s a mistake I think we often make; returning to the physical structure of house, though never revisiting our roots. Leaving us only one option: to pursue.

We seek peace within external sources; though, in the end – our refuge is always within.

And once we begin to understand this balance, we can finally begin to settle in to a vested happiness.

In peace, my friends…

Namaste ❤