Is this Happiness?
By Divya Gahlot
(17BCE0509)
“Work Harder today, so that you can find peace tomorrow. Struggle today,
so that you get whatever you want tomorrow.” We have been listening to this
sine we were born, since the day we stepped into this life. And as a matter of
fact, every one of us is yet struggling to achieve even a fraction of it. Did
we ever, wait, pause for a moment, and think, that what actually are we
dreaming and aspiring about? Or just going on with the flow, just because we
consider, that if we continue to move on that path, we shall achieve our goals
someday? Sad reality strikes, but this is the truth of our very own lives. Day
after day, month after month, year after year, we are trying to follow
something which we do not even know why. But how long shall this continue?
Sir Einstein, gave a very beautiful definition to happiness. He said, “A
calm and modest life brings more happiness than the constant pursuit of success
combined with restlessness.” He believed, that the mantra to success was not actually
the destination, but the journey. It doesn’t matter, the level of success that
we reach one day, if we are in a constant hustle and restlessness. Calmness,
and satisfaction along the journey are equally important.
But is this what we actually believe today? The world has its own
definition to happiness. We’re constantly told to push our boundaries, to do
this, to that, so that one day we taste the success of life. If we work real
hard, we would be happy, because it would lead to us being successful. But did
we ever think, where is all this actually leading to? We are actually running on
the definition of success that others would want to see in us. Sir Einstein
brought light onto this fact using a very simple example. Suppose we enter a
shop with loads of beautiful watches, each one of them really expensive and
amazing. Would we be truly happy if we work real hard day and night for the
watch and then buy it someday and show it to the world, or would we be truly
happy if we no longer have any craving for the watch? A deep question, but it
truly opens grounds for logical thinking. A simple, yet a powerful example. The
fundamental principles of our very existence seem delusional, when we think of
it deeply.
What actually is happiness? Will we ever get to know, to experience,
what is it? Will getting Supercars, or Luxury houses make us truly happy? Are
awards an answer to happiness? Ask the famous Actor Jim Carrey, and he would
say otherwise. He says, “I wish everyone to become rich and famous, so that
they could see for themselves, that that’s not the answer”.
So, let us just stop rushing through our days in the hopes of being
happy sometime in the future, and instead, embrace a calm and modest way of
life and experience the happiness we all deserve. Let us all live in the
moment, and enjoy its beauty. Because, we really do not need any reason to be
truly happy, we can find happiness in the little things of life, and embrace
them.
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