While religion can play an important role in your happiness, on this website I will mostly leave that aside, as religious beliefs are very personal. This website is open to all beliefs, and I am sure you can use your beliefs positively to find happiness. However, while I will not discuss core religious beliefs, I nevertheless will share wisdom about happiness that I have drawn from the major religions.
At this point, I am going to make a twist in our discussion about religion and will now share a short religious “joke” with you! I like the joke because I think it has a simple lesson for us regarding our relationship with religion. Intriguingly, the joke involves a boat and a helicopter!
The joke starts with a person called Tania who lives in an apartment near a river. Unfortunately, a rare calamity strikes her neighbourhood: the river has burst its banks, and the town is increasingly flooded.
In desperation, Tania runs to the roof of her building. At this point, it’s important to know that Tania is very religious. She is devout in her beliefs and begins praying to God for the flood to subside.
However, the flood waters continue to rise, and Tania prays even harder. Suddenly, to her surprise, a boat appears nearby, and the people in the boat urge Tania to jump on board.
Tania replies, “I have faith in the Lord that the floods will recede, so while I am thankful for your offer, I will decline it”
The people in the boat look puzzled, but there are others they need to rescue, so they rush away.
The flood waters are now rising even more. As this happens, a helicopter appears in the sky and hovers near Tania. A rescuer descends down a rope hanging from the helicopter and offers to rescue Tania. But again, and to the rescuer’s great astonishment, Tania replies, “I have faith in the Lord that the floods will recede, so while I am thankful for your offer, I will decline it”. The perplexed rescuer has no time to waste; there are many others in distress, so he climbs back into the helicopter and they fly away to rescue them.
The flood waters keep rising, and sadly, Tania drowns.
But of course, with her devoutness, she reaches Heaven, and waiting for her is God.
Even though she reaches Heaven, Tania is furious and angrily asks God, “You have disappointed me. I prayed so devoutly, and had full faith in you, so much so that I even declined help from a boat and a helicopter.”
God smiles and says, “I responded to your prayers. I sent a boat to rescue you, and when you refused, I even sent you a helicopter! I was so confused about why you were not availing of my help!”
I like this joke because it highlights a nice point. While having faith can be important, it’s equally important to help yourself as much as you can to overcome hurdles and achieve goals. It’s about doing whatever you can to help yourself.
I must stress that the information on this website is not there to compete against your spiritual beliefs. Instead, it is there to help you achieve happiness alongside help from your beliefs.