Searching & Seeking When The Light Is Deceiving

There's an old story of a man crawling around on his knees under a streetlight late one night. A police officer comes by and asks him what he's doing on his knees on the ground.

"I lost my keys. Help me look for them."

The police officer joined in to help with the search.

After 20 minutes or so of looking, the police officer asks, "I don't see anything. Are you sure you lost your keys over here?"

"I don't know. I might've lost them in the park."

"Then, why are you looking for them here on the street?"

"Because that's where the light is."

Ahh, I love that one. It's such a human story. Instead of looking for where he lost his keys, the guy is looking where it's easiest to search.

Sounds like all of us at some point, doesn't it?

We look for answers often where it's most convenient to look. Not necessarily where the answers are most likely to be.

In the pursuit of happiness, we "look" in the most obvious places: Following an expected career path. Listening to "experts" for the right answer. Buying the things that are marketed to us.

Society at large tells us where to look. Watch TV for a few minutes and notice how one commercial after the next seems to promise the key to an amazing life. Coca-Cola's tagline is literally "Open happiness."

Are you looking for answers in places that are comfortable and familiar? Maybe the answers are there somewhere...but maybe they're not. Maybe they are nowhere near where you think they are.