Pursuit of Happiness

Boundless Infinite Happiness

Happiness

A concept so simple to define but impossible to practice.It has always been that magical elixir that tends to be unattainable and out of grasp. It is the dangling carrot in front of our eyes that fuels the relentless race that we run.

Whatever a person does, the root factor behind his action will be happiness.

Maybe a person does a job that he hates,so that he can earn some money using which he hopes to reach happiness. Or maybe he keeps trying to gratify his senses in an unrelenting manner hoping to get stuck in the portal of pleasure forever. Or maybe,he tries to reach the top of the societal ladder hoping that control over others would be the answer.

A human being ,at the core of his nature, yearns to be happy.

All over his life, this malicious essence of unrelenting pursuit paints its vivid colors. It defines his life and purpose. Only in the end does he realize;his life has been nothing but a mad race with fellow blind humans in which there had been no finish line.

Why is it that a concept so vital that it is at the root of every human action, seems to be the most misunderstood of all?

Happiness , being the most sought-after of human goals, is the least made-sense-of. An average person lives out his life running his own race behind happiness, and never once reaching there. Or he reaches the place which he hoped will give him permanent pleasure only to realize how wrong he has been.

What is not happiness?

It is only justified to first start by eliminating the aspects that we can identify as not being essential for happiness.

Money,fame and materials

We can make use of the hindsight of wealthy or famous people. Surely, just money or fame can’t be the key ingredients for the perfect recipe of happiness. They are temporary, and so will be their effects. If that was the case, the human race would have destroyed itself over the conquest of material and land. There have been attempts. But so far, nothing has withstood the essence of time , bearing witness to the answer of the ultimate question.

People and good relations

One can argue that good relations play a vital role in determining the quality of a person’s life and hence, his happiness. Well, this is true to some extent. But relationships, as beautiful as they are, are also temporary and unstable.If good relationships were the answer to infinite happiness, surely we would have reached at least halfway through the quest. But that doesn’t seem to be the case.We can say that good relationships form a sturdy container to hold the elixir of happiness. But we can’t say they form the essence of happiness.

Pleasure and sense-gratification

You need not be that much wise to figure out that sense-gratification for attaining happiness is like a snake trying to bite its own tail. You may go on and on , never once reaching there. What’s more? It is followed by consequences that may provide you as much sorrow as the pleasure you obtained,making things worse and leaving you more befuddled.

When are we ‘happy’?

Can I say we are happy when we are in sync with the universe? You know, that weird sense of feeling that we get , which is as if the universe has conspired and brought together a plan to make things right for us and make us feel blissful from our souls?

Life around you seems to be in your rhythm. The tune of life seems to be playing according to your actions.

The mere thought of existence makes you feel completely blissful and gratified.

But if we are observant enough, we can notice the nuances at play and conclude the reality. The reality is that everything is just the opposite.

It is not life which is in your rhythm. It is you, who is in rhythm with your life. The tune of life is not tailored for you. You just learned to dance to the natural tune of life.

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony — — Mahatma Gandhi

Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light — — J.K Rowling

Happiness can exist only in acceptance — — George Orwell

Happiness is the journey, not the destination

When we conceptualize happiness as a mere state of being ,bound it within constraints and think of it as coming from an exhaustive finite source, the result is what happens to be a relentless and blind pursuit.

If one is observant enough, he can see that happiness is not derived from anything in particular. It is in us,in everything we see. We merely choose to reflect it on some objects and persons, and ignore it in all other cases. It is in fact, this reflected happiness that we experience as small bursts of pleasure and bliss.

The key to increased happiness and quality of life lies in acceptance.

Accept those around you. You may hate some situations,certain people and particular parts of your life. Nevertheless, accept it as the very nature of life.

You don’t need to like it to accept it. You don’t need to like a bitter medicine. But it is necessary that you accept it for your well-being. It’s the same with happiness.

Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise — — Victor Hugo

When one learns to live life by incorporating the thought of “ this too shall pass” even in the most difficult of times, and accept his situation, he has the key to unlock the reservoir of overflowing happiness that lies within him.

When a person learns to fall in love with mere existence and see life as an innocent child sees it, that is when he can be happy — happy for no reason at all — because happiness is his nature.

Happiness is a choice and it is the most powerful one that a person can make.