Finding Happiness: Thailand

 Crossing Thailand I stayed with some Buddhist monks near Chiang Mai. They eat really well which I liked a lot. They did yoga which I liked a lot as I practice in Vancouver. But my socks got really dirty so I should have just gone barefoot the whole time! They really like my idea of cycling around the world for charity, they all discussed deeply, and they even took Sparkle for a spin around the temple. Then they blessed me with some type of holy water so I knew I was in. Mostly what I liked about them was their philosophy. It was the poorest country I had been in but had the happiest people why was that? The important thing in life they taught me was to find your purpose in life, and then to find true happiness. True happiness comes not from material things like money, cars homes, you need to detach yourself from wants in life. True happiness comes from giving to and helping others. Eg. When you give someone a nice gift and they like it how good it makes you feel? Ironically, it is through such an engagement with one's self, the world and reality that one is able to achieve a transcendent happiness. It was at this point that I discovered that I had by chance found true happiness through what I was doing on my bike.
http://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/history-of-happ…/buddha/