This is a topic that most people talk about most of the time. This is especially through after you have grown up and ventured into the working world.
When you were still a kid, being happy is simple. Your father gives you a sweet and you will feel happy. Your mother hugs you and you feel loved and happy. Someone brings you to the shopping mall or gives you a toy, you will feel happy.
What happen after you have grown up?
Happy seems like something difficult to achieve for most adults. In fact, “being happy” has even become the goal most people are chasing for.
Is it that difficult to be happy and stay happy?
Well, it all depends on how you define happiness. If you go to Google and type in “define happy”, this is what you will get, “feeling or showing pleasure or contentment.”
It is defined as the feeling of pleasure or contentment. So how do you feel contented? It is through the feeling of satisfaction. When you feel satisfy, you will feel contented. And when you feel contented, you will feel the happiness in you.
In other words, when you achieve your goals, you feel satisfy with your work, you will feel happy. Let me share a short story to reflect this…
Once there was a little monk who wanted to know the meaning of happiness, so he asked his master what is happiness and how to get more of it.
The master did not answer him directly, but instead, the master gave the little monk a pot of soil and handed him some flower seeds. The master told the little monk, “If you want to the secrets of happiness, do this task for me – plant the seeds, water it every day, make sure it has enough sunshine and take good care of it. Once flower blossomed, I will tell you the secrets to happiness.”
The little took the seeds and started to plant just like what the master has asked him to do. The little monk took really good care of the seeds. He watered it every day at the same time in the morning. He put the pot under the warm sunshine for a certain period of hours each day.
As days went by, the seeds sprout and germinated. The little monk felt so delighted and joyful. Finally, the days for him to discover the secret about happiness is about to come.
2 months after the seeds germinate into small little green plant, one day, the plant blossom and there are flowers. The little monk felt so happy that he sang along.
The master walked by and asked the little monk, “What makes you so happy, little monk?”
The little monk shouted happily, “Master! The seeds that you gave me 2 months ago have finally bloomed into flowers! I’m ready to learn the real secret to happiness.”
The master smiled and told the little monk, “Don’t you already know what happiness is and how to create more of it? You are so happy right now.”
Did you get the message from the story?
You will feel happy when you feel satisfy. And how do you feel satisfy? When you accomplished something or when you achieved what you set out to do.
You don’t need to set your goal as to become a millionaire, and feel happy only when you achieve it. As long as you are making progress toward your goal, you will feel contented with your action and the result you took. If you feel contented you will feel the surge of happiness deep within you. Just like the little monk, you will feel happy once you accomplished on you set out to do.
When you plan for a holiday trip, you feel happy during the process. You feel happy when you buy the flight ticket and when you book the hotel. You feel happy as the time close by. If everything goes smooth as expected, you will feel happy.
What happen if some “hiccups” happen during the trip? What if you reached you destination only to find out that the hotel hasn’t been booked yet?
For most people, they will feel sad, frustrated or even angry. And the reason for this is all because the PROGRESS get stuck and the situation is OUT OF THE EXPECTATION. Only the minor few with optimistic thinking will find the silver lining in the situation.
When things go out of hand and you are not progressing, you will feel frustrated. When things go smoothly and as your expectation, you will feel the happiness.
So now you understand what happiness is and how to create more of it, right?
All you need to do is to understand that contentment equals happiness. And in order to feel contented or satisfy, you just need to progress and achieve.
If you set a goal as to buy a new house this year and you accomplished it, would you feel happy? Absolutely!