My Search
Jesus Christ
Since quite some time I was wondering how I can be happy in
life. So I decided to speak to some of my friends and acquaintances on what
happiness meant to them. Let me share with you the different views I heard from
people.
- “My employees should listen to me and follow me. I am happy when I am in charge.”
- "Happiness is when I am holidaying at a beautiful place."
- "I will be happy when I make it to IIT."
- “I want my children to do well. That is happiness for me.”
- “I have led a fulfilling life and now I want my values to be imbibed by others. That is my source of happiness.”
- “I have been yearning for a baby boy. To give birth to one will be true happiness.”
- “If I am doing something that interests me I am happy.”
- “I will be happy if I find the right job for myself.”
- “I do not know which stream to choose. Not too interested in academics. I will be happy once I am done with my schooling.”
- “I do not know which stream to choose. Not too interested in academics. I will be happy once I am done with my schooling.”
- “I want to make my parents happy. That is how I define happiness.”
- “I want my husband to accept me. There is no other meaning of happiness for me.”
- “If I get a different boss I will be happy.”
- "I am happy when I watch a good movie."
- "If I can sleep for long I am happy.”
Do you identify yourself with some of these revelations? By
the end of my tête-à-têtes I realized that there are so many “wants” we have in
our lives and our happiness is dependent on the fulfilment of those wants from
situations and people. To look at it differently, for a better future we keep
postponing our happiness.
Understanding Happiness
Ironically happiness is all about living in present. As a
wise man had said” Be happy for this
moment. This moment is your life.” Happiness is about accepting
situations and people the way they are. It is a belief that everything is okay
or is going to be okay. As rightly put by a wise woman, “I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may
find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or
unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition.”
The Ghastly Truth
So unintentionally,
we drive away happiness from our lives. This
intrigued me to discover what people do intentionally to be happy in their
lives. As expected, the paths chosen were different for different people. Some
worked very hard, some prayed, some leveraged their network and authority while
some were misled in their approach and used negative methods to seek happiness.
I decided to dig a little deeper and see what they did in their
daily routines. There were some interesting commonalities in their behaviour.
Being in a mad rush, following daily news / television shows, deliberating on the
new developments, gossiping, judging people. I inquired from them on how it
felt like while participating in such activities.
People confessed that there is a constant sense of being a
part of rat race. There is continuous running. Sometimes it is just out of
habit. It is difficult to trust others. Amongst too much competition, so many
crimes in the city the only person whom you can trust is you yourself. A lot of
people especially those who were either home-makers or stayed in smaller cities
revealed a constant fear of being judged by the society. News of too many
untoward happenings in the city left them feeling insecure.
I further tried to understand how it felt like to be happy.
People shared a feeling of lightness in their body and mind when they were
happy. They were taken aback when I asked them on the frequency of feeling this
way.
By now I was flabbergasted by the gap of how everyone wanted
to feel and how they were feeling each day. I have really began questioning this
in my mind. Can we only find happiness on the horizon? Is there something wrong
with our lifestyle today? Is happiness a myth? How can we as a society deal
with this?
Ray of hope
To begin with one has to "realise" that life is a journey and not a destination. We should strive to be happy not just on meeting our goals but also while working towards them.
As another wise man had said, "Life is not about looking for meaning but creating something meaningful."
Here are 8 habits which will keep us happy and empower us to spread happiness.
Ray of hope
To begin with one has to "realise" that life is a journey and not a destination. We should strive to be happy not just on meeting our goals but also while working towards them.
As another wise man had said, "Life is not about looking for meaning but creating something meaningful."
Here are 8 habits which will keep us happy and empower us to spread happiness.
1) Beginning our day with meditation and positive affirmation
2) Planning the rest of our day
3) Exercising
4) Having small, nutritious and frequent meals
5) Saying no to judging others
6) Giving our best
7) Responding and not reacting
8) Having a good sleep
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