Through a long and painful process, I've learned that happiness

"Through a long and painful process, I've learned that happiness is an inside job — not based on anything or anyone in the outer material world. I've become a different and better person — not perfect, but still a work in progress." — Alana Stewart

Thus speaks Alana Stewart, a woman who has walked through both fame and suffering, whose words shine with the humility of one who has endured the storms of life and found her peace not in the world, but within herself. In this reflection, she speaks of a truth known to sages and poets across the ages: that happiness is not a treasure to be found in the hands of others, nor in the fleeting brilliance of wealth or applause, but a sacred flame kindled in the heart. It is an inside job, born of awareness, forgiveness, and the slow labor of self-discovery. Through trial and sorrow, Stewart learned what many never do — that the world outside can offer comfort or pain, but not the peace that endures.

The path she describes — a long and painful process — is the universal pilgrimage of the soul. It is the journey from illusion to truth, from dependence to freedom. In youth, we are taught to seek happiness in external things: in love, in success, in beauty, in possessions. We chase after shadows, believing they will bring us light. But life, in its wisdom, teaches us through loss — through the breaking of illusions — that true happiness cannot be granted by the world, for the world itself is impermanent. The outer material world changes with every tide, but the heart, when disciplined and awakened, can remain still amid its waves.

Stewart’s realization did not come easily. Like many, she faced grief and disappointment; she lost what she once believed would bring her joy. And yet, through pain, she began to uncover the deeper strength that lay hidden beneath — the power to create peace from within. This is the alchemy of the spirit: turning suffering into wisdom, loss into self-knowledge, and pain into compassion. It is this transformation she speaks of when she says, “I’ve become a different and better person — not perfect, but still a work in progress.” These words are not of pride, but of humility. For the wise know that self-mastery is never complete; it is a lifelong unfolding, a process that continues until one’s final breath.

The ancients would nod in agreement. Socrates said, “Know thyself,” for he understood that all joy, all virtue, begins with self-awareness. Buddha taught that desire is the root of suffering, and that liberation lies in turning inward to still the restless craving of the heart. Even Marcus Aurelius, emperor of Rome, wrote that “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” Across cultures and centuries, the message has remained unchanged: that happiness is not given, but cultivated — not pursued outwardly, but grown inwardly, like a seed tended by patience and reflection.

Consider, for a moment, the life of Helen Keller — a woman born blind and deaf, yet filled with radiant joy. She could not see the beauty of the world, nor hear its music, yet she discovered a happiness that no one could take from her. “Keep your face to the sunshine,” she once said, “and you cannot see the shadows.” She, too, learned that happiness is an inside job — that it springs not from what we have, but from what we become. Through courage and acceptance, she turned limitation into light. Like Stewart, she was a work in progress, but her progress was eternal, for it led her ever closer to peace.

Alana Stewart’s words carry a quiet power because they are not spoken from theory, but from experience. They remind us that every human being, no matter how lost or wounded, holds within them the capacity for renewal. To become “a better person,” she says, does not mean to become flawless, but to live consciously — to forgive oneself and others, to learn from sorrow, to awaken gratitude for what remains. The one who turns inward and finds serenity there is unshakable, for their joy no longer depends upon the shifting winds of fortune. They have built their house upon the rock of self-understanding.

So, my listener, take this wisdom as your guide: seek not happiness in possessions or praise, for both fade like mist in the morning sun. Instead, look within — into the quiet depths of your being. Tend your inner garden with patience. Accept your flaws as part of your becoming, for the soul grows not in perfection but in persistence. Practice gratitude each day, for it is the breath of inner joy. When sorrow comes, do not flee it, for it may be the teacher your heart most needs.

For in the end, as Alana Stewart discovered, happiness is an inside job — the art of living in harmony with oneself. The world will change; people will come and go; fortune will rise and fall. But if you carry within you the light of understanding, no darkness can overcome you. You, too, are a work in progress, and that is the greatest truth of all — that happiness is not a destination, but a way of being, born anew each day within the sanctuary of your own heart.