Tolkien uses hobbits and elves to teach us the secrets of happiness and fulfillment. Six lessons stand out in his booksand they are: 1)Delight in simple things, 2) Make light of your troubles, 3) Get personal, 4)Cultivate good character, 5) Cherish and create beauty, and 6) Rediscover wonder.

We must have delight in the simple things in order to be happy. This means to find joy in the litle things that happen everyday. We need to enjoy telling stories, singing songs, eating, or even just taking a walk. The things that we take for granted. All these small details that happen every day are important and if we don’t have fun withthem then we can’t be truly happy. Some important factors that create happiness may be as simple as a healthy body, optimism, outgoingness, and a focus beyond the self. With all the stress and anxioty in our lives we need to slow down and enjoy the little things that matter most.

To make ligt of your troubles means to find hope and beauty in the most dire circumstances. Sam really shows this all the way through the story. He takes the troubles that are put in front of him and works them out. The Quakers came up with 12 rules that deal with this concept. They call them the “Quaker Dozen”. They tell us to work hard, love your family, and show kindness. St. Augustine tells us to, “rejoice and be glad, because life is short...”

A third key to happiness is to get personal. Our relationships have a lot to do with us being happy. Everybody needs friends. Friendships hold families and communities together. When you are feeling down you go to your friends for help. They are there to help you get through the tough times. Aristotle says, “friendship is the greatest external good.”

We need to cultivate good character in order to be happy also. Why are some happy people not good and some good people not happy? Goodness is neither necesary nor a sufficient condition for being happy. It does play a role though, for example if we eat a lot and don’t exercise. That isn’t a good thing nut you may feel happy. When we get out of touch with ourselves we forget what it feels like to be happy.

To become happy we can cherish and create beauty. We feel good when we lose ourselves in what we are doing. This happens a lot with artists, dansers, and writers. We have a need for creativity and beauty. Gregory Bassham thinks this is because we are made in the image and likeness of God. God in a sense is an artist.

Lastly, we need to rediscover wonder. We need to stop and look around us and notice everything that happens around us. The world we take for granted is full of mysteries. The elves tend not to get absorbed in themselves and get inside other things. Humans have a, “quick satiety with good”. We need to start seeing things with endless wonder and delight.