Happy Life
We all seek a happy life. Happiness is ‘feel good’ state of mind. It means different things to different. people. Some source it in spiritual peace, while others seek happiness in riches or love or friendship, or power or achievements and victories. But sadly, most happiness situations never last long. So, where can we find stable happiness?
Infect, happiness is an elusive factor. The wise one’s have offered idealistic definitions of happiness. For Henry Wotton, a life free from worldliness and flattery is a happy one. According to him a happy man does not fear death. He spends time in reading scriptures or in silent meditation devoid of any impulsion. Such one is not deterred or afraid of failures. So, he is in a state of happy mind being immune to highs and lows of life. For Alexander Pope, solitude is the heaven of happiness. A person living alone on the island of self-sufficiency is really a happy man. Good health and peace of mind born out of contentedness. Innocent pleasures, joys of scriptural study and meditation are true sources of happiness, the spiritual idealists maintain.
However, the most of us can not follow such spiritual ideals. We can’t break away from the harsh realities of the practical life or abandon the social relationships for the sake of solitude and meditation. As normal human beings we must associate with others, interact and nurture cordial relationships. For us the ideal happiness of the spiritual kind looks more like a delusion. So, most of us seek happiness in the economic security via highly paid jobs or flourishing business ventures. For the people who have suffered the miseries of poverty it is impossible to imagine that the poverty could be a blessing in disguise. Today, the basic source of happiness is in being able to lead a decent life, free of penury.
An idler and a superstitious person can never hope for a secure and decent life. A superstitious mind is always hunted by imaginary fears and unrest. And a decent life has to be earned through hard work. There is no scope for idling. Good health is another vital ingredient of happiness. A sick person is not a happy one in any way. Another source of happiness is having _true friends with whom one can share the joys and sorrows. Such sharing multiplies the joys and halves the sorrows. Genuine love is also another source of true happiness.
Some people find joy in having power and command over others. While others try to seek it in carnal pleasures. But these joys have unhappy dark sides too. Adventures, successes and victories in combat or competitions whip up euphoria’s and they lack permanence and get entombed in trophies, shields, prizes, citations and other mementos.
Conclusion—At the end of the day, in general, a decent life earned through hard work, good health, true friends and genuine love are the real sources of happiness in the practical life. Charity, compassion, helpfulness, sympathy, honesty and peace add value to the happiness.
