I recently heard an African tale of a father, a king, a husband who had everything yet lacked nothing but happiness.

He informed his family about his unhappiness and advised his children that whoever would make him happy, both male and female would get a great reward including half his kingdom.

The first child bought him a couple of cars. He walked away in distress and more unhappy. The second child gave him a fully furnished gym and his response was, “this place will bring me agony but not happiness.” The third child could not understand this so he opted for, feed a man everything he desires but even that displeased him. ‘The Bible says man shall not live by bread alone,’ was his response.

The forth child though did nothing. He had disinterest in impressing his father as he saw he had everything most people wanted. But his friend encouraged him to speak to his father and find out what bothered him.

The fifth child however beat him to it. He brought a group of beautiful damsels and told his father to select whomever he pleases. He thought that his father was probably just lonely. He stood up, looked at his son and said, “you are mad! I have five wives including your mother. You want to kill me, this is not happiness but death!”

The fourth child had a friend who played music, and this used to remind the king of his father. One day the king requested for his son’s friend to play music for him but he refused. He was afraid of going as the king was well known to be ruthless.

Then one day as the king was taking a morning walk on his farm he heard someone play ‘Nyatiti’ a cultural musical instrument. The king caught himself humming to the tune, which startled the child who upon trying to flee, was called back and invited to the palace to dine with the king. He told the child how no one plays great old instruments anymore and the sound of Nyatiti brought back sweet childhood memories which added color to his melancholic life.

I guess you can use your creative imagination to make a happy ending to that story. Point is, we all go through life happy, sad, brave, cowards, afraid, scared… all in search of happiness. Most times we don’t realize that whatever makes us genuinely happy is always around us and in its simplest form.

It may be a Nyatiti for the king and the child who loved playing it but to you, it can be spending time with friends or reading your favorite book, a hug from a long lost friend or a simple hello from a stranger. That’s true, we are all different yet the fact is we already have found happiness and if we pay attention to the simplest forms of laughter life brings our way, we get to keep it.

Stay positive y’all.

Till next time… cheers!