HAPPINESS

Pic.: Malabika Ganguly

Long back, when someone asked me what was my goal in life, I had replied: “To be happy.”

“How?” he wanted know.

I, then, realized how difficult it was to answer that little ‘How’!

For many years, since then, I have been trying to understand what happiness is all about. And, often, I have wondered: Can happiness be a goal in life? Is it not too vague?

I had read somewhere this:

“Happiness comes along the way… and not at the end of the road.”

I started thinking on these words.

Today, I cannot say that I have understood fully what happiness is. But, certainly, I have experienced a good amount of it.

Personally, I trigger off my happiness by:

1.      Setting my goals and trying hard to achieve them, yet, not remaining attached to their fruits;

2.      Creating wealth, to give it back again, and keeping my lifestyle extremely simple;

3.      Having a profound sense of gratitude for everything that happens in my life;

4.      Accepting people as they are and try not view them with my won colored glasses;

5.   Above all, accepting myself as a worthwhile human being - quite capable of moving mountains, as well as going under their weight, whenever they crumble.

A significant lesson I have learnt, along my quest for happiness is: If I am unable to find happiness along my way – yes, here at this very place and right now – I will never be able to find it when I ‘reach there… tomorrow’!

Life says, “To be happy… just ‘be’!”

GERALD D’CUNHA

P.S.:

In 1990, THE DAWN CLUB had published a small book by the title – ‘The Zest’. It had carried some eighteen short and medium-sized passages written by me. The book instantly became one of our very popular books; and, eventually, it was reprinted several times.

We guess, one of the main reasons for its popularity was that it spoke to the reader in ‘first person’… He felt as though he was talking to himself… a soliloquy. Yes, the reader could instantly connect to the voice in the book… and, the message simply seeped into his heart!

The above passage – ‘HAPPINESS’ – is a popular passage from the book.