So, you want to be happy? Who does not?
I think I have understood (to some extent at least) what constitutes happiness & what doesn’t.
I have realized that happiness is a state of being. Most importantly, it’s a choice that you have to make. You might have come across people who always have a smile on their face. It doesn’t mean that they have no problems in life. It simply means that they have chosen to be happy in spite of the ups and downs of life that they are going through.
What is not happiness?
When we chase ephemeral pleasures, we may think that we are happy, but we are not. For example, if we are constantly chasing money, lifestyle, cars, etc., we can never be happy, and the race goes on.
To summarize, if your source of happiness depends on acquiring/owning objects, that can’t be called true happiness. Because once you own something, you don’t stop there; you want the next better one, and the chasing goes on. Objects become obsolete. You can take the iPhone as an example. I call this kind of happiness ’ephemeral pleasure.'
Remember when you were a kid? We all ran behind such pleasures. Someone gave you a toy, and after some days, that toy stopped being a source of happiness. Then you were in search of a fancier toy, and so on and so forth.
What do you need to be happy?
You don’t need any objects in order to be happy. You don’t need to be crazy rich either. Because if that were to be true, then the people with the most wealthy toys would be happy. But are they? I don’t think so.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of things that can make you happy:
- Help another person.
- Share what you have in profusion with the less fortunate ones. It doesn’t have to be money; it can be knowledge, food, or something else.
- Make a difference in someone’s life.
Hoarding doesn’t lead to happiness; sharing does.