HAPPINESS
Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.
Aristotle
WHAT IS HAPPINESS?
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, happiness is
“the feeling of being happy”. Happy, according to the same source, means
“feeling, showing or causing pleasure or satisfaction”.
HAPPINESS VS WEALTH
Does money make us happy? Economists have long argued
that richer nations tend to be happier than poorer nations – a view supported
by recent research by the World Economic A forum that found higher GDP (gross domestic product ; the total products and
services produced by a nation ) usually means better education, lower child
mortality, a better lifestyle and, consequently, a measurably happier
population.
The problem with this viewpoint, however, is that
there is a limit to how much longevity, literacy and good health money can buy.
Studies suggest that beyond an average GDP/capita of about $15,000 a year,
income makes difference of the average happiness of the population. In fact, if
you were to measure the increased levels of happiness that cash alone can
achieve, the upwardly arcing curve would eventually become a straight line.
WHERE DOES HAPPINESS COME FROM?
Those who try to find their love and happiness in
possessions, places or people are destined to be miserable because they fail to
understand that true happiness can only be found within themselves. Everlasting
joy, happiness and love all come from falling in love with yourself. The
people, places and things that you attract into your life that make you happy
only serve to enhance the love that you already have for yourself. They can
never replace that inner love. If you seek true happiness, practice giving
unconditional love – and the first person you must show true love to is
yourself (SELF-LOVE).
Around 2,500 yrs. ago, the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu
said: “The biggest problem in the world is that individuals experience
themselves as powerless”. Today, this is still our biggest problem. The main
barrier to happiness and success Is our feeling of powerlessness, which cause
negativity, anger, anxiety, inertia and fear.
Personal power comes from an inner sense of security,
which is achieved by knowing who you are, connecting your thoughts and feelings
with your inner self, and then accepting yourself. By accepting yourself, you
can be yourself and other people opinions and criticisms cannot make you feel
so insecure that you feel worthlessness. Personal Power comes from within on
one can give it to you.
Retaining your power requires you to take control of
your thinking. This way you alone decide how you think, which in turn affects
how you feel, how you behave and what your attitude is. Take care of yourself;
look after your physical, emotional health and spiritual needs. Let no one else
be in charge of your life but you.
You cannot change how others relate to the world, or
how they relate to you. However, you can change yourself. Look closely at what
blocks your inner vision and you will be amazed how quickly the fog disappears
and a clear, focused picture emerges.
THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
A lot has been written and said about the pursuit of
happiness. In 1776, the US Declaration of Independence enshrined in law the
inalienable human right of every American citizen. Among these was the freedom
to pursue happiness. What an irony. If you “pursue” happiness, the last thing
you are is “free”. Instead, you will always be a prisoner, destined to forever
be chasing something that remains beyond your reach. You cannot pursue
happiness any more than you can rely on someone else to make you happy. The
only way to be happy is to be happy, Right now.
HAPPINESS COMES FROM WITHIN
Happiness, like unhappiness, is a product of our minds
– even though we often project those feelings outwards, insisting that the
world at large is responsible for our state of mind. Since the causes of
happiness and unhappiness reside within us, ultimately, they are within our
control – we can choose whether to be happy or not. Happiness is inside us and
is attainable
When the clouds hide the sun, the sun is still
there. Like the clouds, thoughts, worries and desires can cover and hide our
happiness. We have to disperse them in order to experience it. Then the
inherent and everlasting happiness in the soul can shine forth.
You may wonder what you have to do to gain happiness,
but it is already there within you. Just clam your mind and stay relaxed and
you will experience it. There is no need to wait for circumstances and events
to bring it to you. A clam and detached mind Are the gateway to true happiness.
It is your decision to choose happiness; happiness is inside you. This advice
has been communicated to us down the ages:
1.YOU CHOOSE
Most people are
about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
Abraham Lincoln
Very little is
needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.
Ludwig Wittgenstein
The world around you are filtered through the lens of
your senses. Depending on whether you interpret this information in a positive
or a negative way, you will either find happiness in small, everyday things or
blame the circumstances of your life for your lack of contentment. Your choices
control the levels of happiness in your life.
Strive to be detached, and don’t let your feelings be
influenced by trivial matters. If you convince yourself to stay relaxed and
calm in every situation, then you have chosen happiness. Activities such as
meditation (see October - Awareness) will train your mind to stay focused and
clam, and will help you develop willpower and self-discipline. Such disciplines
are the gateway t happiness.
2.FOCUS ON THE PRESENT, NOT YESTERDAY OR TOMORROW
When one door of
happiness closes another open, but often we look so long at the closed door
that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.
Helen Keller
The foolish man
seeks happiness in the distances; the wise grows it under his feet.
James Oppenheim
Yesterday is
history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is God’s gift, that’s why we call it the
present.
Joan Rivers
You only have now… and now…. Yesterday is a memory
that you cannot change. Tomorrow is merely a fantasy that exists in your mind
right now. So, live more in the now by focusing on the present moment and
today. If you think and worry too much about yesterday and tomorrow, you risk
missing out on a great deal of happiness that is available to you right now.
3.Be grateful
Man is fond of
counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up as
he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it.
Fyodor Dostoevsky
We tend to forget
that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but
rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.
Frederick Keonig
Let us be grateful
to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls
blossom.
Marcel Proust
Among the many things you can feel gratitude for are
the sunshine and the weather, the roof over your head, your health, a good TV
show, a movie or a song, your friends, family, work colleagues, and the people
you meet walking down the street.
Just for a minute, try feeling grateful for these
things and see how it changes how you feel – it’s a win-win situation! You feel
great because you are grateful about your world, and the people you are
grateful for feel great too because they feel appreciated. So, don’t forget
about gratitude or you may forget about the happiness that already exists in
your life.
4.HELP SOMEONE ELSE FIND HAPPINESS
Since you get more
joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the
happiness that you are able to give.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Thousands of
candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will
not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
Buddha
If you want happiness for an hour – take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day – go fishing.
If you want happiness for a year – inherit a
fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime – help
someone else.
Happiness is like a
kiss. You must share it to enjoy it.
Bernard Meltzer
When you make someone else happy – by, for example,
helping them with something – you can sense, see, feel and hear it, and that
happy feeling flows back to you. And then, if you choose to, you can boost you
own ego by thinking something like: “Wow, l really made him/her happy!”
And because the law of reciprocity is so strong, there
is another upside: people will feel like giving back to you. Or they might feel
like helping or sharing it with someone else. And so, the two – or more – of
you keep spreading the happiness.
5.Do what you like doing
Success is not the
key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are
doing, you will be successful.
Albert Schweitzer
Happiness is not in
the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill
of creative effort.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
It’s very easy to let yourself get stuck doing things
you don’t want to do for hours on end, never making time to do what you really
love doing. While you might not be able to do what you want to do right now,
you almost always have a choice to do more of what you really want to do. There
is always time. Or time you can free up. You have a choice.
6.OR AT LEAST DO SOMETHING
Action may not
always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.
Benjamin Disraeli
Twenty yrs. from
now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the
ones you did do.
So, throw off the
bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain
One of the best ways to not find happiness it to sit
back and do nothing, or paralyse yourself through over-analysis. It’s not
always easy to be proactive. In fact, it can be scary and difficult at times.
But if you don’t seize the moment, you risk, missing out on a lot, including
moments, people and experience that can bring you a lot of happiness.
SPREADING HAPPINESS
Have you ever noticed how happiness is contagious? The
way this works is actually quite simple. Let’s say that one day you’re feeling
particularly gloomy. You go into a grocery store and the shop assistant greet
you by saying, “Good morning! What a wonderful dress/suit you’re wearing.” or
“You have most beautiful eyes!” A few warm words of encouragement like this
from another person can trigger positive feelings inside you that may prompt
you to do something similar for someone else a short while later, such as helping
an old lady cross the street.
Each time, think of something nice to tell another
person. Even a simple hello or smile can help change someone else’s day for the
better. And when you do this, you will see how other people will reflect the
happiness and enthusiasm you have shown them back to you.
This is taken from
– Read me I am Magical
Thanking to ALINKA
RUTKOWSKA
Written by: ARSHAD ANSARI
