HOW TO OBTAIN HAPPINESS?

1. WE often get swept into the sea of busyness in the pursuit for happiness. Every human being is working towards achieving happiness in every aspect of life.

2. A spiritual master once told me that the final expectation of every activity or action that we do is towards attaining the end result of happiness.

3. However, many have forgotten that happiness is a journey and not a destination.

If you can’t be happy in this very second, it is difficult to be later.

4. At this juncture, I recall a true incident which happened at a “goal setting” workshop I attended sometime ago. This programme was conducted by a renowned Malaysian psychologist.

5. During one of the sessions, there was an activity where the trainer requested all the participants to write down their future goals and their action plan to achieve these objectives.

6. One of the participants who happened to be an insurance agent drafted an unique goal and action plan. His goal was to be a multimillionaire in 10 years’ time.

7. His action plan was to just work and work during that period. He will not spend anytime with this family as he will work from 8am to 10pm daily. He will not waste his time with his friends or go for any vacation.

8. All he would do is spend his energy on his work for that 10 years period without a break.

According to the participant, he would enter the “happy” state after 10 years as he would be a multimillionaire by that time. He would happily spend his time with his family, friends and will go for vacation around the world.

9.Upon reading his statement, the psychologist asked him a question, “Please give me an assurance that you will live up to 10 years from now.”

10.The participant was dumbfounded. He could not utter a single word.

11.There are many of us who are like that participant who postpone our happiness. One of my friends said she will not be happy till she obtains her PhD. Another friend does not attend family functions as he is busy in achieving his first million ringgit and told me that he has no time for happiness now.

12.The truth is there is no guarantee that we will live even till tomorrow or even the next hour from now. That’s how mysterious our life is.

13.Generally many of us believe and think that “I will leave up to 80 or 90 years. But in reality we might expire anytime from now.

14.In this very uncertainty of life, there is not much of time that we have to wait to be happy. But we have the ability to be happy now.

15.However the ultimate truth in psychology of happiness is that happiness obtained from material element is temporary. It could be from any form of happiness derived from material achievements.

16.This also applies to our future dreams, needs and wants that we need to attain in order to be happy.

17.You can just look back at your past happiness. You might have worked so hard to achieve your particular dream to be happy but once you have achieved it, the strength or the colour of the happiness fades away over time.

18.Happiness gained from material elements will never last. It is a very temporary effect. Many of us are unaware of this undeniable truth on happiness.

19.The only way to achieve or touch the ever radiating joy in us is by practising non-material activities which will contribute to our internal joy.

20.The internal joy which radiates within us can be best felt through prayers and meditation.

21.By practising prayers and meditation, one can touch and feel the internal joy without any external elements.When we reach the climax of happiness, we can feel peace and contentment. Peace and contentment cannot be felt through material gain.

22.However, it is not wrong to work towards achieving the right material dreams but one must learn to be happy in this very second and spend time on prayers and mediation to be truly happy inside.

Written by Vigneswaran Kannan for The Star, Date: August 12, 2013