Happiness quotient
Author
C.P.Hariharan
E mail id : cphari_04@yahoo.co.in
Each of us craves for happiness. But, happiness is as transient as a rainbow. It is like finding an oasis in the desert of life .Happiness vanishes into thin air even before we could experience the same to the hilt or to the brim. It seems like happiness comes and goes, we go for ever. Just as sadness, happiness is only a passing phase in our life. Just as nothing is permanent in life neither the bad times nor the good times last long rather they only recur and take turns in our life. Life is full of vicissitudes.
For many people happiness remains a far distant dream. They are basically lazy and lethargic by nature and prefer to be in their comfort zone. Success and happiness have linear relationship. Success will not come to us, we have to go to it. Success comes only to those come out of their cocoon of comfort zone. There is a saying “To earn something we have to sacrifice something”. To get something we have to give something. Same holds true with happiness also. We have to work hard and sweat then only we can have peaceful meal. We can never have peace and happiness when we earn our income through unfair means.
Poor people cannot be happy as they do not have bare necessities of life. Rich cannot be happy as they yearn for earning more and always worried about the security of their assets.
Those who have jobs are reeling under pressure. Those who do not have a job are worried about two slices of bread, just a square meal a day.
Health and happiness go in tandem as we can be happy only if we are hail and healthy.
We can be happy only if we do not have any expectations. The more we expect from others, the more we will tend to be unhappy. As shri APJ Kalam puts it, there will be people around us to apply butter only if we earn our bread, otherwise they will just wash their hands off and wish us away.
We should try to maintain our equanimity come what may. Lord Sriram was as happy when was asked to go for exile as he was when he was crowned with the kingship of the kingdom of Raghu vansh Ayodhya.
Our own happiness knows no bounds when we share our happiness with others.
Happiness comes from within. If we expect happiness from outside we can never be happy.
Materialistic pursuits snatch away our happiness. Each of us is unique in some ways. Hence, we should not compare ourselves with others.
Attachment to material things only add to our miseries.
Even attachment is ephemeral and not eternal as our desires shift according to our own diminishing ">the first few days of it’s purchase. After that we will not be caressing the car as we used to be. Our desires shift to something new specifically when our neighbors own it.
Comparison leads to inferiority complex and makes us much more perplexed and embarrassed.
People who have inferiority complex tend to underestimate themselves and are always unhappy. They fret and fumes on everything they come across.
If we can make our fellow mortals happy, our own happiness crosses all the boundaries. All pervasive happiness creates positive vibrations and leads us to the pinnacle of self actualization.
We should count on our blessings. There are always people who do not even have even the bare necessities of life, still, they are content with what they have. The more we yearn for more, the more will be our depression.
As problems are part and parcel of our life, we have to accept things as they occur and take them into our strides. Problems persist from the cradle to the grave. Still, we have to remain happy as far as possible.
For some people, creating problems for others is a pastime. When we need the service of others, most of them enjoy turning us away. But, such kind of happiness does not last long. Such happenings take place as they get their salaries whether they work or not. Nobody owns responsibility for anything. They do not have any sympathy or empathy towards those who have come to avail their services. Rather they enjoy a lot in turning away those who are at their counter. They just duck and buck and always put the ball in others’ court and are fastidious and finicky. They just wear a contemptuous, arrogant and sarcastic attitude towards others. Their audacity knows no bounds. They wear apathetic and lackadaisical attitude. Corrupt practices create ill feelings among masses.
Such kinds of corrupt practices can be abolished only by fixing responsibilities.
It is like wood in the forest, Tevar’s elephant, pull and pull.
For them, their own happiness matters much more than the fellow mortals’ happiness.
We get self contentment only by making others happy.
Our own accomplishments and accolades bring us happiness.
Worrying over the past and feeling insecure about the future makes us unhappy. But, most of the time, we spend our life time in pondering over the past which is irreversible and bothering about the future which is yet to come. We do not know what is in store for us. Past is history and future is mystery. Hence, there is no point in worry over the past or the future. Future is always uncertain. In order to remain happy we have to learn to live in the present moment which is only in our hands.
Give and take attitude percolates happiness everywhere. But, unfortunately there are more takers in our society than givers.
When we think that others have and we do not have, naturally we feel unhappy. Comparison of material possessions and rivalry for imitation causes aggrandizement. Much to our chagrin, nothing happens as we wish. We have to accept and digest whatever happens on our path of life.
More often than not, we feel unhappy when we think what others will think about us. What we think matters much more than what others think about us.
We can be happy by spending our time with positive and optimistic people and keeping aloof from negative people. Pessimistic people are dooms day predictors. They can never visualize anything positive in any aspect for that matter. Thus, our happiness largely hinges on our own attitude and unhappiness is our own making. We should resolve to be happy under any circumstances.
Searching happiness outside is a wild goose chase and as futile as searching for horse’s horn.
We are living in a mutually exclusive society and people exploit one another.
Some people choose to be happy even if they do not have anything. Thus, happiness lies in our own thoughts.
A recent survey of happiness quotient reveals Switzerland tops the HQ list and Portugal remains in the rock bottom. In between comes Denmark, Netherlands, Australia , USA , Japan, Russia in that order just to mention a few. Countries like India and Ethiopia are nowhere to be traced in the HQ list. The contradiction is that much of the Indian black money has been alleged to be parked in Switzerland.
Some of the major factors that have a bearing on our happiness quotient are GDP per capita ,healthy life expectations, freedom to make life choices, Corrupt practices, having something to fall back upon or else having someone to lend a helping hand to us in times of adversities and console us and generosity .The more we are generous, the more happy faces we can see around us.
We will be in a checkmate situation if we have only hobson’s choice.
A smiling face brings all round happiness. A smile costs nothing and we should develop the habit of keep smiling. When we come across a smiling child we forget all our worries for the moment.
Cribbing creates negative milieu. We have to endure what cannot be cured.
If we expect somebody would make us happy, that would just turn out to be a fond reverie.
We should try to lift the spirits of our fellow mortals. Thus, we can come out of doldrums and from otherwise humdrum, monotonous routine.
Money can bring us happiness but we cannot buy happiness with money. We can only heave a sigh of relief. We come to know the value of happiness only when we confront sadness. In utter darkness only a star shines the brightest.
As we age, even though we may eat less, still our medication expenses go sky high. That’s why we need to provide for exigencies through means like medi claim. Unless we provide for medication we will experience mounting tension which has far reaching repercussions on our health.
A business man was earning well in a boom period, but he lavishly squandered everything on material possessions without making any provisions for unforeseen contingencies. But, when the depression knocked the door of his business, he lost everything. He had no other go but fending for himself with nobody to come to his rescue. Had he been frugal and earmarked something for rainy days during his sunny days, he would not have meted out with dilemma of devil and deep sea. Thus, happiness is a situation of our own creation and the consequence of our own thoughts and deeds.
C.P.Hariharan
Email id : cphari_04@yahoo.co.in
