Musk deer live mainly in forested and alpine scrub habitats in the mountains of southern Asia, notably the Himalayas. The musk gland is found only in adult males. Musk is a perfume ingredient, or note, traditionally extracted from the anal gland of the male musk deer. In high concentrations, it smells like feces. And the ingredients evaporate slowly, so the smell lasts a long time. That makes it a base note in perfumery. The fragrance is so heavenly, you’ve probably heard of the word musk, used in colognes and perfumes, that’s where it comes from. That is why it is called “Musk deer.” Natural musk is one of the most expensive and very rare available fragrances in the world.
As we talked earlier musk deer have a special kind of fragrance in its gland, so what happens is that when the deer began to smell this fragrance, it doesn’t know where it’s coming from. It became one of the main goals for the deer, to find the source of this fragrance. It searched the bushes, the trees, the caves; went from hill to hill looking for the origin of the scent, which was not found anywhere. It was so frustrating that eventually, it will jump down a cliff, into the valley… thinking that the source of the fragrance must be there! It died.
That’s it. The story ends there for the deer. It never really figured out the source, which is inside itself.
We are looking for happiness outside like musk deer. But it is inside us. Our search for happiness is always external. We look for it in new things, clothes, houses, cars, new jobs, TV shows, junk food, alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, human love. But the truth is that none of those things can provide lasting happiness, only temporary pleasure. Even when we have them, we are scared of losing them. We spend our whole life in search of happiness in terms of success in school life as a topper, to be famous in college life, having more social media friends, getting a job, or earn a lot of money to fulfill all desire, of having a big house, car and so on.
According to a Forbes survey, most people after retirement say that happiness is not in earning money or having a big house and cars, but it is in having a beautiful life with lots and lots of memories worth living.
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