The Art Of Being Happy

We are often obsessed with finding the purpose of our lives, the meaning of our existence, inner peace and getting spiritual guidance but, despite being told otherwise time and again we look for these things outside our selves. Let’s pretend like I’m a prominent scientist and accept one thing as an undeniable fact: All joy lives within you.

Everything else is merely stimuli that you think, brings you happiness. If you look at the traditional objects which a lot of us relate with happiness you’ll find this very fact being reinstated. Take for example my penchant for motorcycles. I’ve owned two wonderful bikes and they have brought me immense joy... or have they? When I first looked at my new motorcycle and smiled from ear to ear, was it this well crafted machine that made me happy or was it something else? It WAS something else.




It was the thought of riding it, the thought of watching my friends react to it, the thought of how people’s heads would turn as I zipped past them or how I would ride down winding hilly roads and feel the wind on my face. Like with all objects of desire, it was all about the emotions and experiences it would give me access to... it always is. In other words, it was merely a tool that would help me channelize the joy within me. 

Whether it’s the urge to binge on a chocolate soufflé or the dream of owning a beautiful mansion by the sea- objects are nothing more than tools we rely on to pry open the gates of happiness. No surprises there, right? But what if you didn’t need to pry open the gates? What if you always had a way to bring yourself joy? That would be nice, wouldn’t it?

You see, we do not need to depend on things or even other people to bring ourselves joy. Objects and the actions of others do have the strength to influence how we feel but, that effect can be recreated in seclusion as well.  

All you need to do is to understand yourself, understand your limitations, your strengths, embrace your flaws, celebrate your failures, get over your success and you’ll find yourself laughing at jokes that aren’t funny, dancing to songs that aren’t playing and listening to music that hasn’t been composed. Why? Because all joy lives within you!

Also read: How Little Things Make You Happy

Once you truly comprehend the strength that this thought gives you, once you absorb the serendipity that you can tame with that knowledge, you will be happier than a mad man dancing naked by a stream in Venice holding a bar of chocolate in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. You have the potential to make yourselves so happy that when the need to explain the expanse of your joys, you won’t have a unit to measure it by.

Remember what comedian Steven Wright once said, he said: “You can’t have everything. Where would you keep it?” While he might have said it in an entirely different context, I want to stress on the fact that if it is things you chase, you can never have it all but you CAN have it all if you chase nothing at all.

Also read: Is It Good To Lie?

Do not let that sound like I’m urging you to sit idle on your derriere and vegetate to death! I’m merely saying that although you can’t possess all the things and people you wish to, you can experience all the joy that the world has to offer and all the joy that lives within you.


Do you have any thoughts on this? Leave a comment, Tweet to me @Likhnewaala or DM me on Instagram. 

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Comments

  1. UnknownJune 16, 2015 at 4:06 PM

    Very inspiring article bro. Keep it coming

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rishabh P NairJune 16, 2015 at 10:14 PM

      Thank you Devanka :D I see my readers are becoming cooler by the day!

      Delete

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