Hi Folks!
I have been looking out for some inspiration to pen down my today’s post and I finally got it through IndiSpire, where the current blogging topic is – “What does happiness mean to you? Do you go looking for happiness?”, posted by a fellow IndiBlogger, Anita.
To answer it, I would start with answering – What is Happiness?
In the words of positive psychology researcher, Sonja Lyubomirsky, “Happiness is experiencing joy, contentment or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful and worthwhile.”
I would agree to that. But then, each one of us has our own definitions of a good, meaningful and worthwhile life, which means we all have different meanings to ‘happiness’ and different things that could keep us happy. While for some, sleeping for hours is happiness, for others, happiness could mean the joy they get seeing two smiling kids playing together, the contentment on their parents’ face, the beauty of the rising sun, the relaxing evening they spend cuddling with their partner or the tiring yet thrilling cricket match they just played with their childhood buddies or a lot lot more.
To me, happiness is another name to contentment – the contentment I get doing good work, the contentment I get in making my bestie smile, the contentment I get when my cooked pasta or paneer is merrily relished by my mother, the contentment of being capable of standing by my family’s side, the contentment of being free to chase my dreams, the contentment of finally penning down a good post for my readers, the contentment of being born healthy, the contentment of been blessed with a good life and with the ability to accomplish much much more.
Coming to the next part – Do you go looking for happiness?
Many people do. Many of you might also be doing the same. Dreaming of building up that big house, running after that person you adore and want to be friends with, trying hard for making it to your dream job, in your dream company and what not. Why? Because you are looking for happiness. Because you think that making it to those stops in life will bring you happiness.
But what I have learned from life is – happiness comes with no conditions. It can be found nowhere but inside, inside you. Happiness is a habit. It is a promise you make to yourself – the promise to feel joy, contentment and positive well-being in what you have.
You don’t have to go looking for happiness. You just have to practice it, every single day.
Life’s simple – Just keep breathing. Enjoy the sunshine when the sun gets too bright. Enjoy getting drenched in rain when you have no umbrella. Enjoy reading a book when there’s no electricity to make your laptops work. Cherish the people you still have, when someone close to you leaves. Through all your struggle and hard work to make it big in life, enjoy all the little things that you already have.
Practice happiness! Every single day. Every single moment. And you’ll never have to go looking for it…
Stay tuned, keep reading, keep sharing and let smiles shine…:)
