If You're Happy And You... Well, Do You Really Know It?

Hmmmm... Here's a question for all of you.



ARE YOU HAPPY?



It seems like a very simple question, and although it's only three words, they are difficult words to answer to sincerely. We all have the freedom to answer this however we like, but if we aren't truely happy and we only state that we are, we're only fooling ourselves.

How many times have you all looked at people around you and thought that they might be living happier lives? What criteria have you based your inferences on? Is the grass always greener on the other side?

Before you start to form opinions about others, it's important to keep in mind that there are many ACTORS and ACTRESSES out there, ACTING happy, and we cannot deny that we have all been actors and actresses at some point in our own lives. But like clowns, a whole lot of us wear masks to hide our true selves and our true feelings. Can one clown be envious of another?

What brings happiness to the world? Does happiness come from collectings items? Does happiness come from accumulating money? Does happiness come from making others feel miserable? Do we need to use people as stepping stones and walk all over them to feel a sense of accomplishment?

Here's something else to think about. Can you ever really know whether or not someone else is happy? Can you imagine what it's like living as someone else? Living someone else's life? Do we even have the right to judge whether or not someone else is happy??? Maybe the other person doesn't have the same standards... Maybe the other person doesn't want what you want from life... And when I say "the other person", the other person can be a stranger, but can also be someone very close to you. For example, the other person can be your child. And just because that person is your child, does it mean that you have the right to tell your child what will make him/her happy? Can you expect your child to do things that will make YOU happy, but make them miserable, just for the sake of fulfilling YOUR dreams? You can replace the word "child" in this example with many other words, but the questions remain the same.

Here's something else to consider. When seeing someone win money at the Casino, do you ever wonder how much money they have already spent in order to make that monetary "gain"? Would winning that money make you a happier person? Can money even buy us happiness? I agree that money can ease the stresses of every day life by letting us live comfortably, letting us pay our bills and taxes and fill our gas tanks and eat and drink and buy clothes that we like and give gifts to our loved ones and travel the globe to see what wonderful things exist on Earth. But are those people who work themselves to the bone to make MORE MONEY, and who save every penny to add interest to their bank accounts, actually HAPPY? How about the people who work hard and spend every penny they have on so-called frivolous things? Are THEY happy? Does Heaven or Hell allow us to bring our finances with us when we pass on? Can we live a fulfilling life living from pay cheque to pay cheque, buying everything our hearts desire?

As you can see, that SIMPLE question I asked at the beginning is a very complex one to answer. I'll leave you all with this quote for tonight... But keep an eye out for more posts on this topic because I plan on exploring this further after doing more research.

"Success in life could be defined as the continued expansion of happiness and the progressive realization of worthy goals. Success is the ability to fulfill your desires with effortless ease. And yet success, including the creation of wealth, has always been considered to be a process that requires hard work and it is often considered to be at the expense of others. We need a more spiritual approach to success and to affluence which is the abundant flow of all good things to you."

Deepak Chopra