Happiness

Five-year-old Molly asked her dad, “What is happiness?”

So the next day, her dad surprised her with a toy, a speaking Barbie, and she was overjoyed and spent every waking and sleeping moment with it.

A week later, her dad promised another gift. As Molly waited by the door, her dad came home with a huge box. While she looked on with excitement, her dad opened the gift to reveal within it ten dolls of the same Barbie make. Her smile disappeared in disappointment.

But her dad smiled. He said, “Come, let’s go out.”

Taking the dolls with them, they wandered around the whole block. Molly’s father then asked her to distribute each doll to all her good friends with a special personal message to each of them. It was to become their lifetime bond now. Molly was elated.

But as they neared home, giving all of the dolls away, she came across a poor girl staring longingly at them. Her dad looked at Molly, wondering about her response.

In a blink, Molly ran indoors, got her doll, and gave it to the poor girl.

‘Happiness lies in knowing when to take and when to give.’