In the month of Adar — a time when joy is celebrated — I would like to reflect a little on the idea of happiness.
We are constantly being told that happiness requires stability above all else: a stable job, stable relationships, a stable life.
In the field of health — both physical and mental — the emphasis is often the same. It is no coincidence that countless wellness programs, apps, and products promise us calm, balance, and inner harmony.
And if we are honest with ourselves, we often think of life as a kind of quest: any moment now we will find the exit, discover the master key that opens every door, and finally begin to live steadily — and therefore, happily.
But I invite you to look at this differently.
Let us go to the circus and watch a tightrope walker. We lift our eyes to the dome and, holding our breath, observe a person walking along a tightly stretched wire, holding a long pole. Each step is a search for balance and the effort to maintain it — without which the acrobat would inevitably fall.
Even when it seems to us that he is standing still, his entire body is in motion: his core is engaged, his feet are adjusting, his arms are working. To be precise, the tightrope walker is not simply walking along the rope — every second he is making subtle corrections in order to remain upright and not fall.
Now let us bring this image into our own lives.
Every minute, the world around us renews itself, following its own inner rhythms and laws. This is how nature functions — and we, as part of nature, function the same way. Many of these changes are invisible to the eye, and yet they continue to happen whether we want them to or not.
Which means that stability is, in many ways, an illusion — one that is impossible to fully achieve as long as we are alive.
So how do we live within this fragility and uncertainty?
In a life defined by the constant opposites — growth and decline, certainty and doubt, gain and loss — our best strategy is not the pursuit of permanent stability, but the continuous search for balance and the right amplitude of movement.
It is impossible to make our life — our family, work, finances, health — permanently stable once and for all. But if you shift your focus from stability to movement and balance, you will stop being disappointed that your life does not match the perfect image you once imagined.
And the next time you feel the ground slipping beneath your feet in a complex and unstable situation, remember the tightrope walker.
Take the balancing pole in your mind and begin to move — slowly, carefully adjusting with each step.
And gradually, you will begin to feel your own strength.
This article was written in cooperation with Lado Okhotnikov