What is happiness? Let’s talk about it. Simply put, it’s a state of mind. Rather, state of conscious mind.
Now how do our minds transit to that state? It happens when something good happens in our lives. There are many situations which bring happiness to us and bring smiles on our faces.
The situations differ from people to people. For a toddler, getting a toy to play with, is happiness. For a young school going kid, a vacation is the most awaited happiness so that he/she doesn’t have to wake up early for school, play most of the day & no study.
For a junior college student, scoring good percentage in the final exams is most important, upon which his/her future education is dependent. Passing with flying colors will make the student happiest.
When in graduation years, students grow up and mature a little. Chilling out with friends, playing pranks, cracking jokes, going for trips, doing submissions together, group studies before exam day are all the days of happiness which form memories for lifetime.
During campus placements, clearing the interview rounds and getting selected is a big and genuine reason for happiness. You are sharing your happiness with your friends, other classmates, faculties, clerical staff and every person whom you meet everyday. Everyone is congratulating you from your dearest friends to the classmates who had limited conversations with you, from your favorite lecturer to the one whom you always disliked.
And then, there is the biggest stage of your career which is the most crucial, final year final exams. They are like every other exam with only exception being the last one to appear for. They officially mark the end of college life (only if no plans for masters ahead). The results are out. With a little bit of fear, little curiosity and little excitement you experience mixed emotions. It’s certain that you will clear the exam as even the laziest of students take final year exams very seriously.
There is a leap in your life, joining your first workplace. Your first day of office where a friendly HR will welcome you, introduce you to your colleagues and reporting manager. Days and weeks pass. Then, there is a day when you receive your first ever payment, your first salary. No matter how big or small it is, it is your earned one. You think about what to do with it. Mostly, you will buy some essentials, some cloths for yourself and buy gifts for your parents & sibling(s). After promotion at higher level, some may opt to become a businessman after certain years while the rest will continue to have service as their occupation.
From being gifted a toy to receiving your first salary, we grow up. There are also lot more stages in future like going for masters(optional), getting married, parenting etc. This will go on till retirement and the cycle will repeat for next generations.
So all this while, there is a revelation about happiness at each stage of life. None of the stage gives happiness which is permanent. Challenges are always there to come your way at every stage. There are disappointments, stress and also some unpleasant experiences happening in life. They are a part of it. That’s the rule of life saying “Deal with it”.
Both happiness and sadness have a limited period. After every dark night there is a morning and vice versa. For example you won’t celebrate your first salary after two years of working, similarly you won’t feel the hate for that one college lecturer with whom you had a bad experience when it’s more than three years you started working. Be it any happy or sad incident, both are significant only for a limited time. After time passes, none of them matters.
At some point of time in life, you realize that nothing makes you happy anymore. You have a job which is envied by a lot of your peers. A salary you once didn’t even dream about. An apartment in a posh locality which is a dream for your juniors. Luxuries don’t attract you anymore.
This boils down to the fact, everything in your life will lose its significance someday. You wonder and crave for something which gives you real happiness and you are ready to give whatever it takes.
All through your life, you have only cared about you and your family. How much you really did for others? Others you see, the needy. For a fact, there are people who are struggling financially, academically and even professionally. What they earn or how they live is not even ten percent of what you have.
The best thing to do for achieving real and long term happiness is to live for others. Offering a helping hand is the best act of kindness or nobility. That doesn’t mean you have to make others’ life the only reason for your bliss. You must fulfill your needs too. You can help a life by contributing in whatever ways you can and as per your capacity.
By doing this you are touching a life and contributing for a change for good. For instance, you provide financial assistance for a needy student whose family can’t afford education. Things will come into effect when you see the student going to good college and getting quality education, landing a job and eventually improve his living conditions.
This is the real happiness you will feel once you realize you have touched and changed a life and that’s not a short one. It will stay with you till end. Reason is our conscience, which will keep reminding us each time you see or hear about the once needy lives you touched. Now that’s where real happiness comes from.
There are so many other ways for real happiness. Do share them in the comments section.
