Two children were put in a room each given piles of toys all exactly the same. Each began to play with their toys, one playing joyously and the other looking at the one playing joyously, with envy because he was not finding the same joy playing with the exact same toy. So the envious child would take the toy from the joyous child thinking the joyous child's toy must somehow be better than his, otherwise how could the joyous child be so happy and he not. Each time the envious child would take the toy the joyous child would just become more joyous and grab another toy to play with and each time the envious child would see how happy that the joyous child was he would take that toy as well. Believing the joyous child must have taken all the happy from the toy before he had taken it and placed it in the new toy. This went on and on and each time the envious child would take another toy from the joyous child, the joyous child would become even more joyous and happy. This only served to enrage the envious child who believed the joyous child was playing a trick on him. Finally the envious child had taken all the toys from the joyous child, in fact so many toys that it covered him in shadow. While the joyous child had only with each toy taken become ever more joyful and happy until it seemed he was pure beaming light. Finally, the envious child roared at the joyous child, "How can you be so joyous, so happy when I have taken all your toys? Are you hiding a special happy toy? Are you making fun of me with your smiles and laughter? Give me the special toy!" the envious child bellowed! The joyous child smiling like the sun, embraced the envious child, the joyous child's light shining on his shadow and he whispered gently to the soul of the envious child, "Where would I hide this toy there is nothing here but you, I and the toys and you have them all now?" The bewildered envious child steps back exhausted by his greed and selfishness asks, "Then how can you be so joyous, so happy when I have taken all toys from you?" Answers the joyous child, "Because as happy as playing with the toys made me, watching you play with them and be happy if only for a moment, brought me more joy than all the toys in the world." "I don't understand" said the now thoroughly confused envious child. Embracing the envious child once more with his light the joyous child again whispers gently to the envious child's soul, "There is no greater happiness that Life can give, no greater proof of the power of unconditional Love, than bringing unselfishly happiness to another. For even if I had all the toys in the world how could I be happy, knowing that you were not? My happiness, is your happiness and the only thing that can make me unhappy, is for you to be sad." With that the envious child stepped from the shadow of his mountain of greed and began to give the joyous child back his toys and they began to play joyously happily together and as one became more happy, so did the other. Until finally the envious child understood what the joyous child had been trying to tell and show him. He never needed the toys to BE happy, he just needed to BE happy and to BE even happier by bringing happiness and joy to others, would make him happier than all the toys in world.
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“Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” ~ Robert Heinlein

“Love is when the other person's happiness is more important than your own.” ~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” ~ Buddha