Enterprise

Happiness is not about having all, it’s making the most of everything

sri

True happiness is in sitting back and enjoying what you have to the fullest rather than constantly running after what you don’t have. FILE PHOTO | NMG

A village was tired of an old man who was gloomy, complained constantly and was always in a bad mood. The longer he lived, the viler he became and more poisonous were his words.

People did their best to avoid him because his misfortune was contagious. He created the feeling of unhappiness in others.

Villagers knew him as an unhappy man. He hadn’t got married until he was 35 because he wanted to make sure he had a stable, job.

He got one but was still unhappy about it. Then he got married.

The villagers thought he would now be happy. But alas, he was worried about not having children.

Then after two years he was blessed with twin boys. Everyone was happy for him, but alas he was not.

He worked very hard to make enough money for his family to live a decent life. Everything was going smooth, yet he was not happy.

Many years later, his sons had great jobs, were well-educated and had settled very well in life. Everyone thought that he would be happy because of his sons’ success, but he was not.

He was unhappy that his sons no longer stayed with him. Villagers lost hope on him and started ignoring him.

Time flew by and one day, when he turned 80, an incredible thing happened. Everyone started hearing the rumour: “The old man is happy today, he doesn’t complain about anything, smiles, and his face is freshened up.”

The whole village gathered around the man and asked him, “What happened to you?” The old man replied: “Nothing special. Eighty years I’ve been chasing happiness and it was useless. And then I decided to live without happiness and just enjoy life. That’s why I’m happy now,” he said.

Happiness is like a butterfly, the more you chase it, the more it eludes you: The minute you realise that it is not catching the butterfly but chasing it that defines true happiness, you enjoy the process better and happiness is attainable.

The moment you stop chasing happiness, you become happy: It is important to pause, sit back and enjoy sweet little moments of your daily life

Happiness is the sum total of sweet moments that you usually ignore in pursuit of unknown fulfilment.

The happiest people don’t have the best of everything, they just make the most of everything: True happiness is in sitting back and enjoying what you have to the fullest rather than constantly running after what you don’t have.

Let go of what you think your life is supposed to be and celebrate what your life is: Every once in a while de-clutter your mind, take stock of life, let go of what made sense previously but no longer does. Celebrate every small win rather than waiting for that one big day.

Whatever you do, make sure it is going to make you happy: Happiness will elude you, unless you stop blaming others and start taking charge of your life. In whatever you do, make sure you are going to be happy.