Happiness Demystified

How to be happy? A question that is passing over generations. Everyone is rushing toward it and few people are seen actually getting it despite all of their desperation and sacrifices.  I, personally, find this rush for happiness a bit confusing. Should we truly reach a level or get a particular thing to be happy? Can’t we just be happy in present moment with all of the things we have now? Is it really essential for someone to cross a mystical boundary of unhappiness to be perpetually happy? When we see the people who have already reached our desired our level and find them still unhappy with life Can’t we just question ourselves what is the problem? These people should have been in the throne of happiness by now.

What I believe is that we’ve a misconception of happiness. Society is feeding us the wrong diet over the centuries. We are constantly eluded by our society where to find this happiness. We are provided the wrong direction and we are hanging around with our keys and trying to crack the wrong locks.  I often wonder when people say money equals happiness. All you need to be happy is name, fame and money and I see celebrities blessed with all these treasures are having more turbulent life than ordinary people which obviously is not a sign of happy life.  

I’ve problem with seeing happiness standing in a long way where the sky meeting the ground and I don’t feel comfortable with running towards that direction. So, I’ve eased it my way. I seek and find it in different faces of my life like family, career, social, personal, spiritual in simple way- progress. Yes, you read it right. Progress which is made in sustainable and balanced way is the key to happiness. I’ve used the terms “sustainable” and “balanced” here purposefully.  “Sustainable” means your progress is healthy; you need to ensure that your future is unharmed when your are busy with being happy today and “balanced” means you are focusing on all the areas of your life equally; one area is not sacrificed for the other.

I don’t expect that you’ll be running for the next promotion, doing over time, earning fame as hardcore workaholic while your family is feeling deprived. You children think you don’t care about them as they never find you passing the football in the drawing room, never see you in the audience while they are reciting poem on the stage, never experienced what sleeping in the lap of parents feels like. You may be very deep also feel that you are not doing justice to your family. So, I don’t want you to run for money by sacrificing your family.   

Believe me, you don’t need to build an Everest of money or your children don’t need to brag that they have a tree of money. You will not regret for this later also. I am not saying that you don’t need money. Absolutely, you’ll need money for living. But, simply, this is not the only component of the equation. If other parts are missed on the way, you’ll still be unhappy.

Make planned expenditures of your time to make sustainable and balance progress in all the areas of your life. Progress a little every day. Make time for attending the social event, spend time with yourself, after coming from office listen the school history of your children, call the people who care about you and say how much you love them and appreciate them. I can say for sure you will be happy doing these.

Don’t attach your happiness with an imaginary boundary and don’t feel obliged to reach the finishing line to get the prize of happiness. Your happiness is the summation of the present states in all the areas of your life. One missing component will leave the equation unsolved. Don’t make the arrangement to feel guilty about you by focusing too much on one area. Spread your focus over all. Don’t be fooled by the social dogma. Pursue your happiness by actively making little progress in every area of your life. Don’t  leave any area to chance.