It had nothing to do
with what we were striving for
and maybe even less
with what we achieved

It came up beside us
while we were running,
It was there while we celebrated,
while we gathered in our earnings
and our winnings
But it didn’t reside in them

People who have time to,
speculate about the sources —
put forth their formulas —
what is required to find happiness

They may be astonished
at the vast disagreements,
how incomprehensible others are
with what they espouse and reject

But the fulfillment
isn’t in any of those —
It rises from our being
as much a part of us
as our breath.

©Wendy Mulhern
July 26, 2015

(photo by Susanne Weiss)