In search of Happiness

Devoting numerous hours, days, months or even years to things that we believe will lead to happiness is an illusion we are all convinced with. We wake up, think about what we want to achieve, get about doing it, and do it every single day till it becomes a pattern we find so hard to break. We’re utterly dedicated to doing everything we can to attain that piece of happiness we would inevitably feel once we fulfil one of those desires we’ve had since forever. And what happens when we finally get there? What we like to think is that it would make us the most satisfied person on this planet, while the reality is that after reaching that point, we then start chasing something else, something more than what we have and what we are. It’s a chain you see, it’s how the human mind works, always churning, always seeking something it does not have, the thirst never quenching, for if not, then there will nothing to dream about, nothing to keep ourselves occupied with.

Now that we know that we are never going to halt in this process of accomplishing our purpose, try to answer this question- is it right to equate our happiness with an outwardly pleasure we are in search of? By doing so, are we not putting ourselves in a position of unsettlement, thereby limiting our own potential to be happy? We never really stop to consider the umpteen reasons we already have to feel joy in any given moment. Let’s talk about the present moment to begin with; If you’re waiting to land that dream job, or for you to be able to build your dream house to be happy, does it mean that you have no reason to feel joyous right now? “NO, THAT IS NOT TRUE,” is the answer, still, we find it so difficult to be sincerely happy. Putting all these conditions on our happiness is obstructing our sense of contentment- something which is not under the control of anyone or anything but ourselves. I believe that it’s the one thing we all have access to, without having to stand in a queue just waiting to buy our share of happiness, and being completely incognizant of it, we all end up being a part of this string, awaiting our chance to being happy, wondering if it will ever come.

While we may not consciously realize it, every single one of our endeavours is an effort to make it to that ultimate state of contentment. In the end, it all comes down to happiness. No matter what it is that you’re seeking-yes, even money- it is to make yourself feel that bliss. By critically looking at this notion, I have descended upon the idea that happiness does not require us to qualify a test to attain it. The journey to my goals is laden with struggles, but that is not to say that they are obstacles to my happiness as well, unless I choose to make them so. I can face every struggle head on and still be happy, knowing that they are not a part of the same process. I had this revelation while going through certain struggles of my own, and it astounded me to understand that there was a difference between my dreams and my state of happiness, and by aligning the two together, only made things difficult for me. Learning to enjoy things that are happening around me every day, while still getting a handle on the blows that are delivered to me in my pursuit of dreams has allowed to me to retain happiness within me. To simply break it down to you, happiness resides within us at all times, and like any other choice, that too is an alternative- one of the options available to us if we do not complicate it by weaving all the threads of yearning around it. Happiness is the simplest choice to make, the easiest to attain, if we so believe. At the end of the day, it is all a matter of finding joy in everything we do at any given moment. Even walking down the steps leading to your morning train can make you feel cheerful, because you choose to make it so- listening to your favourite song, thinking about your favourite childhood memory, looking around to find beautiful exchanges taking place between people (the beauty of human interactions), reading your favourite novel, thinking about the little joys of life. Basically, thinking and doing whatever it is that makes you happy, rather than looking out for extrinsic goals can make you happy, because the fundamental truth is that it does not take a lot to be happy, and that’s the best part about happiness; it costs us nothing at all.