What is happiness?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of “Happiness,” it is the state of feeling or showing pleasure or contentment. Happiness is a state of mind that makes you feel satisfied and alive. It helps you to feel and stay positive. Since it is a state, it implies that a person does not experience happiness at all times. This is normal because we are humans. Humans have stress and problems. It is okay to have a bad day and not to feel happy forget satisfaction.
Another important thing is that it is not a trait. So a person who is unhappy cannot blame on his skills on being happy. It is a feeling and a good one which helps you feel peaceful and calm and also gives you self-satisfaction. So, happiness is when you feel good about doing or watching something.
For example, happiness for some people is eating chocolates, having food, and going out, taking a trip and shopping.
But are these things really giving you happiness? The answer is quite debatable. Some will feel that buying things make them happy or give them a feeling of contentment. Some will say money cannot buy happiness, some will say it is a spiritual state and you can only find happiness when you feel god. There can be a thousand different reasons people can give to justify their meaning of happiness. But you have to be satisfied with your definition of being happy.
Where to find happiness?
Happiness is to be found deep within you. If you feel happy from inside, it will lead you towards a positive lifestyle. Every person in this world experiences pain and heartbreak, this leads to a phase of depression or low self-esteem. But we should keep in mind that happiness has to be found within yourself. Being happy is a task only you can do for yourself. Friends and family may try to make you feel joyful or try to cheer you up but their efforts will be wasted if you cannot feel good in yourself. You can always find escape in materialistic things or things which you can buy but they will never make your soul happy.
You have to find yourself. Life is a journey and sometimes it is a difficult one with times we expected never to face, but overcoming these times is the only solution to keep yourself sane and contented.
It is not bad to feel jolly when you buy a new dress and receive compliments. But this is not the state of being happy. This kind of happiness will not last long and will vanish in a matter of hours.
Happiness comes from your inner mind, your soul, and your thoughts. The kind of thinking you possess is very important. Positive thinking is the key to feel happy, though it is normal to have bad days. But the more optimistic you are towards things, your surroundings and the environment, the more satisfied and happy you will feel. To being unconditionally happy needs practice. You need to have a connection with your mind, soul, and body. It comes with a sense of hope. This hope is your perspective towards things in life. We may face different problems and situations but the goal is to make your soul contented and happy in the long run.
“The only thing that will make you happy is being happy with who you are.”
Why is happiness important?
Numerous studies show that happy individuals are successful across multiple life domains, including marriage, friendship, income, work performance, and health. The happiness–success link exists not only because success makes people happy, but also because positive affect engenders success. Being happy may help promote a healthy lifestyle. Studies show that happier people are more likely to eat healthier diets and engage in physical activity. Happiness leads to a more creative life. It makes you enjoy your life. Happiness is contagious so happier people help others around them to become happier too. An extensive study in the British Medical Journal followed people over 20 years and found that their happiness affected others in their networks across “three degrees of separation”. In other words, on how happy we are have a measurable impact on the mood of our friend’s mutual friends. So be happy and spread it too.
“No medicine cures what happiness cannot.”
Is being happy the same for every person?
No, as I said earlier happiness is different for different people. But happiness is a very simple thing and with little change in perspective, thoughts, and actions it can be achieved easily. Happiness can be found internally by doing some external actions like helping the poor, adopting a dog, having the privilege of eating with your family, and smiling with them. You can find happiness in memories. There are moments in a person’s life when he/she may feel immensely happy and there is no moment compared to it. For a parent, watching their children graduate, for a child buying her parent gift from their first salary, all these things bring you pleasure and contentment. There are people who just feel satisfied sitting under the sky listening to the rustling of leaves and observing nature, another can become happy by buying something expensive. So, happiness is different for everybody.
Does it matter?
Yes, happiness does matter in our lives. A person needs to feel happy from within otherwise it would lead to stress and depression. Having lazy and unproductive days is very normal but always feeling sad and pretending to be happy will not make you feel contented.
Happiness does not only mean to live a spiritual or meaningful life. But it is to find your soul and make it satisfied with yourself. Happiness is a form of courage in a time of despair. It is an experience where you can enjoy things truly if you keep an optimistic mindset. Has it ever happened to you that an unplanned trip or experience has left you with unforgettable memories?