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• 1.The Rat and the Lion ：Life finds a way to surprise you.

  • Lucky is no ordinary rat.  He is happily married with two children.
    
    Lucky enjoys his job as professor of math at the African Bushveld Technical Academy.  He works hard and dedicates much of his time to his students and the school. 
    
    Lucky has a very good life, although sometimes a bit boring and ordinary. But Lucky is no ordinary rat, yet somehow he is leading an ordinary life.  Is this all there is to life? 
    
    He knows he should be grateful but at the same time he feels incomplete.  Little does he know he is about to embark on an adventure that would forever change his life and his perspective.
    
    One day, while teaching class, Lucky is called to speak to Lion.  Lion!  The king of Bushveld! 
    
    Lucky races to see his old friend Lion.  He finds his magnificent friend lying on a mound, watching the sun set in the African sky.  Lucky sits beside him and, in silence, the two watch the ball of golden flame sink down beneath the horizon.
    
    Finally, Lion turns to his friend and confesses with sadness in his eyes, “Something is terribly wrong with me, Lucky but I can’t put my paw on it.  I’m not sick or hungry or anything.  I just miss being happy.  It’s not that I’m unhappy.  It’s just that I’m not happy.  I have a good life and so much to be thankful for.  In spite of all my blessings, Lucky, I’m still not happy.  An empty feeling has become part of me.”
    
    Lucky does not know how to respond.  Lion continues to explain himself.  He explains that sometimes he would do “nice-to-dos”.  He would do things that made him happy like play with his children or watch the sunset.  But most of his time was spent doing the “have-to-dos”, things that just stopped him from being unhappy.  Eating to not be hungry, exercising to not be fat, working to not be poor.  And hopefully, afterwards, perhaps being a little happy.  He finds these are just stepping-stones to happiness and not efficient nor direct.
    
    “I need to understand happiness,” says Lion.  So he asks Lucky to go on a mission for him.  He wants Lucky to speak to all the animals he can find in the kingdom, ask them about happiness and report back.
    
    This makes Lucky very uncomfortable to set out on such a big journey but he accepts the mission.

• 2.The Elephant and the Wildebeest: Finding the opportunity in crisis and finding happiness in every day.

  • Lucky sets out on his new adventure. Lucky spots Elephant beside a water hole.  This elephant is missing his tusks.  They have been removed and only short stumps are in their place.
    
    “Good morning, Elephant.  My name is Lucky, and I’m on a fact-finding mission for Lion.”
    
    Elephant wonders how he can help.  Lucky tells him the story of how he is collecting information on happiness.  Elephant contemplates this request.
    
    He tells the story of his life.  Elephant is a surgeon but he used to practice homeopathic medicine.  Some time ago, Elephant was in a fight with another Elephant.  During the fight he lost his tusks.  Elephant had needed his tusks to dig in the roots and grass for his homeopathic medicines.  He would use his tusks to crush the herbs into powders.  Without being able to collect this medicine, he soon went out of business. 
    
    Elephant’s life was in shambles.  His anxiety and sadness grew every day until he met a very unusual creature called Panda.  Panda was in town from China.  Panda scratched out a word on a tree for Elephant.  Wei Ji.  It means crisis.
    
    Elephant now points out the characters to Lucky on the same tree.  The first character, wei, represents danger.  The second represents opportunity.  Panda explained that in every crisis there is danger but also opportunity. 
    
    Elephant spent a long time thinking of how to turn his crisis into opportunity.  Soon the opportunities arose.  Without tusks, he was able to get close to patients and it turned out he was good at surgery.
    
    Now Elephant can still be happy and help people by being a surgeon.  Lucky thinks about Elephant’s story.  He decides that he can find opportunity in his own crisis.  On this adventure he can meet a lot of interesting animals and learn about a topic he is interested in.
    
    Lucky thanks Elephant for his advice and moves on.
    
    A few hours later, Lucky meets Blue Wildebeest munching grass in the plains.  He introduces himself and explains the mission.  Wildebeest considers the request.
    
     “For blue wildebeests like me, happiness comes in two cycles.  There is a weekly cycle and a yearly cycle.  Sadly, we only allow ourselves to be happy during a part of each of these cycles.”  He goes on to explain that during the week, wildebeests work and only take time to be happy on the weekend.  That’s their weekly cycle.  Once a year they take a vacation to be happy and that’s their yearly cycle.
    
    He explains to Lucky “The problem is that we postpone our happiness!  We’ve come to believe we can only be happy on weekends or during the holidays.” 
    
    So Wildebeest and his friends decided that they would allow themselves more time to be happy.  They do this in two ways.
    
    First, they search for happiness that is already there, like watching the sunset or enjoying the breeze.
    
    Second, they often change their routine.  During the week they now host small parties and spend time with friends.  It now gives them something to look forward to not just on the weekends.
    
    Lucky likes this advice and thanks Wildebeest.  He sets back out on his mission.

• 3.The Hyena and The Baboon: Be happy with who you are and enjoy contentment over short-lived happiness.

  • Lucky wakes up to the sound of someone laughing.  He looks about and sees Hyena.  He introduces himself and tells Hyena of his mission.  Hyena laughs at Lucky’s request for advice on happiness because Hyena’s job is to make animals unhappy.
    
    Hyena says that he works for a marketing firm and that the job is to make animals unhappy and unhappy animals are good for business.  Hippo was happy with who he was until Hyena’s marketing campaign made him feel fat.  Now Hippo spends all his time under water and spends all his money on diet pills.
    
    Crocodile was happy until Hyena’s marketing campaign made him feel his skin was ugly.  Now Crocodile spends all his money on moisturizer.
    
    “My advice is to be happy with the fur you live in, despite any shortcomings you may have,” Hyena says.  “You’re not perfect, but then again, nobody is.  You should work on your weaknesses and accept your shortcomings, but never ever become morally unhappy because of them.”
    
    Lucky thanks Hyena for his sad stories but good advice.  He continues on his journey.
    
    Lucky hears the call of warning through the savannah and scurries up a tree.  In the tree, he meets Baboon.  They hide from Leopard who is taking a stroll down below.  Lucky introduces himself and tells Baboon of his mission.  Baboon is excited for he, himself, is a motivational speaker and has developed a whole theory on happiness.  He shows him a graph he has made.
    
    There are moments in life that give us high levels of happiness.  We call it ecstatic and it ranks a 6 on the scale.  These moments are like sky diving or buying a new sports car.  They last only a few hours.
    
    Then there are moments that give us low levels of happiness.  They rank at a 1 or 2.  These moments are made up of times when you do well in school or find time to play with your children.  They last much longer.
    
    If you do the math, both those events are equal.  Happiness is the same amount, with one high-level but short-lived and the other low-level but long-lived.
    
    “We miss so much happiness when discounting the little things in life.  The happiness level 1 and 2 emotions on this graph are very important.  The emotions called contentment, appreciation, and gratitude are not adrenalin-filled emotions, but with the duration of a lifetime, they could give us more happiness than the highest of highs.”
    
    High-level happiness emotions are short-lived and expensive, like buying a sports car or taking drugs.  But low-level happiness emotions don’t cost a thing.  You just have to be aware of them.
    
    It also works in reverse.  Unhappy events with a low score, such as guilt, regret, jealousy, and failure, can contribute a great deal to leading an unhappy life, if we let them reign for long.
    
    Baboon tells Lucky that Lion should not worry so much about not being happy all the time.  He only fosters those low-scoring, unhappy emotions that will rob him of happiness in the long run.
    
    Lucky enjoys Baboon’s presentation immensely.  They say their good-byes and Lucky moves on.

• 4.The Honey Badger and the Baobab Tree: Planning for happiness can bring happiness. Don’t forget to find happiness along the way to your goals.

  • Lucky quickly runs into Honey Badger.  He, too, has come up with his own theories on happiness.  Badger tells Lucky that people should focus on duration because that will collect the most happiness in a lifetime.
    
    A trip on a cruise will make you happy for about 24 hours.  But if you sit and think about the trip for a year in advance for 5 minutes a day you will accumulate 30 hours of happiness.  In other words, looking forward to happy events, enjoying the build up and planning can give you happiness too.
    
    Lucky likes this advice as it goes neatly with Baboon’s.  He continues on his way.
    
    Lucky takes shelter under Baobab Tree.  Tree begins to talk to him and Lucky tells of his mission.  Tree says he can only speak of the lessons he’s learned from his own mistakes.
    
    When Tree was young, Tree wanted to be the biggest baobab tree in all the land.  He thought that if he could see farther than anyone else, it would bring him happiness.  He could see what no other tree could see, he would never be bored and he would be respected.
    
    He spent years and years focused on growing into the tallest tree.  He took vitamins and worked out.  His whole life was dedicated to his mission.  Finally, the day came when his mission was complete.  He was the tallest tree!  At first, his life was very happy and he gained much respect and knowledge.  But soon those things faded and ordinary life resumed.
    
    The worst part was, now that his mission was over, Tree realized he missed so many other moments in life like watching his little children grow up.  He had a lot of regret.
    
    Now, with half his life still ahead of him, he treasures the little bits of happiness in every day.  “I fear many of us are falling in the same trap I did.  They think they will be happy when they reach a milestone.  Happy when they get that promotion.  Happy when they reach their goal weight.  These people lose out on everyday happiness.”
    
    Lucky thanks Tree and moves on.

• 5.The Impala and the Dung Beetle: Make your own happiness in your mind. Change your routine.

  • Lucky next visits an Impala.  Impala says his life and all those of other Impalas has been very sad.  Their job in life is to be eaten by lions.  It creates a lot of stress and anxiety.  Impala spent much of his time finding ways to bring happiness to his people.  He even started a support group for Impalas.
    
    Finally, Impala realized that happiness could not always be found without but CAN be found within. You can be happy despite living in unhappy surroundings, depending on your mind.
    
    Impala explains you can only have one thought at a time and you should try to make that thought a happy thought.  When you are stuck in traffic you can think about a happy family vacation.  This will alleviate the unhappiness of the traffic.  It also works in reverse.  If you only think unhappy thoughts, even at happy events you will find yourself unhappy.
    
    “The key to all of this is your ability to control the world you live in,” says Impala.  And to Impala you live in your mind.
    
    Lucky thanks Impala for this creative advice and carries on.
    
    Later Lucky finds a Dung Beetle oddly working on his hind legs.  He introduces himself and tells Dung Beetle of his mission.  Dung Beetle is ready with some advice.
    
    Dung Beetle’s job of rolling dung into balls made his upper body very strong and muscular.  This paved the perfect path to become a successful body-builder.  Dung Beetle competed in many contests and always won second or third place but never first.  Finally, Dung Beetle asked a judge why he never claimed first place.  The judge said his hind legs were pathetic.
    
    Although hurt, Dung Beetle took this advice to heart and found a way at his job to work out both his hind legs and his upper body.  Now he wins first place every year.
    
    “Something only makes you happy for so long.  After a while, you get used to that something and it doesn’t give you the joy it used to.  From time to time, we need to do different things, or we need to do the same things differently.”
    
    Lucky likes this advice very much as he could see how to apply it to his own life.

• 6.The Butterfly and The Fish Eagle: Do not wish your life away. The happiness we search for is already here.

  • Lucky walks down a path and runs into beautiful Butterfly.  He asks for her advice.  Butterfly tells her sad tale.
    
    When Butterfly was an egg, Butterfly dreamed every day of being free from her shell as a caterpillar.  She could eat yummy leaves for hours and roam the land and be happy.  And one day her dream came true.  She became a caterpillar. 
    
    But after a day or two, being a caterpillar became boring.  So she thought she could not wait to become a butterfly.  She would be beautiful and fly free and she would be happy.
    
    Very soon she became a butterfly and she was happy.  But being a butterfly became boring as well not to mention sometimes troublesome. 
    
    “Soon I will complete the circle of life and die.” Says Butterfly.  “I have no fear of death.  What robs me of my happiness is the deep regret I have for wishing my life away.  I was never content with the phase of life I was in, nor did I reap any happiness from it.  Therefore my advice is to enjoy each phase of life for what it is.”
    
    Lucky feels his eyes well with tears.  He says goodbye to Butterfly and carries on.
    
    By the shore, Lucky meets Fish Eagle.  Fish Eagle explains he lives a simple life.  He catches fish that he needs to eat for a few hours a day and spends the rest of his time in his hammock, taking in the beautiful view and lying in the shade.
    
    Lucky thinks this isn’t a productive use of his time and goes into detail how to become more successful.  He suggests that Fish Eagle buy some fishing nets and catch more fish.  He can sell the extra fish at market, save up, buy more nets, catch more fish, buy a boat, catch even more fish and then buy a fleet of boats.
    
    “Then what?” asks Fish Eagle.
    
    “Then you can hire someone to run your business and you can retire to enjoying life lying in your hammock, taking in the view and lying in the shade.”
    
    Fish Eagle smiles and replies, “I’m already there.  Sometimes, Lucky, the happiness we search for is already there.  We only need to see it, to enjoy it.”

• 7.The Beaver and The Rhino: Work smarter and count your blessings.

  • Lucky meets Beaver cutting down trees.  He asks advice on happiness but Beaver says his advice isn’t free.  Beaver proposes a race.  If Lucky cuts down more trees than Beaver, Beaver will pay Lucky and give him advice.  If Lucky loses, Beaver will still give him advice but no pay.  Lucky accepts.
    
    Lucky and Beaver spend the morning cutting down trees.  Then, at lunch, Lucky works through with barely a nibble and continues while Beaver disappears for 30 minutes.  Afterwards, Beaver and Lucky finish the day.  Beaver beats Lucky by one tree.  Lucky is shocked!  How could this be?
    
    It turns out Beaver spent 20 minutes regaining his strength and 10 minutes sharpening his ax.
    
    “Take life slower,” Beaver says.  “You will have more time to think  about what you’re doing and where you’re going.  Working yourself to death doesn’t guarantee better results.  It only guarantees giving up some happiness.”
    
    Lucky continues his journey and meets Rhino without a horn.  Some time ago poachers stole his horn.  Now, without it, he suffers from great sadness.  When he did have his horn, though, he didn’t realize he should be happy.
    
    He turns to Lucky with tears in his eyes.  “Maybe I can help others appreciate what they have, before it’s too late.  I bet there are many basics you take for granted, Lucky.  You may not be happy that you have them, but I bet you will be very unhappy if you lose them.”
    
    Lucky agrees.  “I will count my blessings more often,” he tells Rhino.

• 8.The Bush Pig , The Swallow and the Vulture: Giving makes you happy. Money can’t buy happiness. A positive attitude goes a long way.

  • During a storm, Lucky dives into a burrow for shelter.  There he meets Bush Pig.  Bush Pig tells him the story of how he is a successful doctor but also how he found happiness. 
    
    When he first became a doctor, he became rich very quickly.  He bought everything his heart desired.  But soon he grew bored of all his money and all his possessions.  He wasn’t unhappy but the money and objects didn’t make him happy.
    
    One day, Cheetah came in for a visit.  He was very ill but could not pay for the care.  So Bush Pig decided to treat him for free.  He had never done that before but something compelled him.  “Knowing that I helped him, without expecting something in return, gave me far more happiness than I ever got from anything else I ever bought.  Getting doesn’t always make you happy.  Giving does,” says Bush Pig.
    
    Very good advice, thinks Lucky as he feels the same way about teaching his students.
    
    Later that day, Lucky meets Swallow.  Swallow works for a secret agency that collects information on humans.  He has learned much over the years and shares his knowledge with Lucky.
    
    One of Swallow’s biggest observations is the human obsession of money and fame.  But he also is able to recount many celebrities and rich humans that take their own lives or live in unhappiness.
    
    And as humans age, they only want more and more money.
    
    “Money does not equal happiness,” says Swallow.  In fact, because of obsession and greed, it can lead to despair.
    
    Lucky then meets Vulture.  At first, he is awfully frightened but Vulture explains he’s a vegetarian.  He also tells a story to help with Lucky’s fact-finding mission.
    
    Some years ago, when Vulture’s children were of the right age, Vulture and his wife tossed their children from the nest to get them to fly.  That is the vulture way. 
    
    “Our eldest was negative from the start and didn’t enjoy the experience as a result.  Our youngest was bold.  Despite facing the same adversity as his brother, he chose to be positive.  Not only did he succeed in flying, but he also gained happiness from his experience.  He didn’t allow his fear to rob him of his joy.  A good, positive attitude goes a long way in determining whether we enjoy what we do.”

• 9.The Jackal and The Ostrich: The Predicament of Life and learning that being unhappy is just as important.

  • In a cave, Lucky encounters an old and wise Jackal.  Jackal is also an expert on happiness.  He figured out that when we are young all we want is money and an exciting future.  What we have is youth, vitality and very little responsibilities. 
    
    When we are forty, we hit the perfect balance of having money and having half our lives ahead of us.  As long as you don’t want too much money, you will find perfect contentment.
    
    When we grow elderly, we have even more money but now we have less time.  Our youth and vitality is gone.  This is the Predicament of Life when we never seem to have what we want, nor want what we have.
    
    But Jackal explains further that this is not always a bad thing.  “If we have what we want for too long, we eventually stagnate and become complacent.  Wanting more stimulates hard work, innovation, and progression.  Wanting more is inherently part of what we are.  My advice is to accept the fact that we’ll want things throughout our lives.  And what we do have we should appreciate because it won’t be there forever.”
    
    Almost done with his journey, Lucky meets an Ostrich on the way home.  He finds Ostrich crying over her ruined nest.  He offers to share the advice he has learned on his adventure but she declines. 
    
    “I’m fine, Lucky,” she says.  “Because being unhappy is just as important as being happy.  If we don’t experience unhappiness then we can’t understand when happiness does occur.  When we are away from our families we miss them and are unhappy.  Reuniting with them makes us happy.  Being unhappy was initially required in order to be happy later on.”
    
    Wise words, Lucky thinks as he makes his way back to Lion to turn in his report.

• 10.Reporting Back to Lion

  • Lucky returns to find Lion sitting on the same mound he had left him. 
    
    “What have you learned, Lucky?” asks Lion.
    
    “Happiness is a very complex emotion,” Lucky begins.  “It’s impossible to say in one short sentence how to be happy.  I have learned that happiness means different things to different animals.  Different things also make different animals happy.  Each animal has a piece of the happiness puzzle. 
    
    I learned the unhappiness you’re experiencing is an essential part of life.  A permanent state of happiness also doesn’t exist, so it’s pointless yearning for it.  It’s all in my report.”
    
    Lucky hands his report to Lion.  Lion promises to read it.  Lucky returns home to his wife and children, after learning much on his adventure.  And Lion learned much too.  Although life did not change much for Lion, Lion made happiness happen for himself and his subjects, and affectionately became known as the Contented King.

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