HAPPINESS
The little unsung moments of pure bliss.
I googled the meaning of happiness and I was quite unimpressed with what I found.
As you can see, it was merely described as "
A state, of being happy". Although, I wouldn't refute entirely of the definition, but I think this definition doesn't do justice to the word that is so fleeting yet seemingly easy to achieve.
You must be wondering what am I trying to achieve here talking about something so fundamental, yet unexplored. I was inspired by a few occasions (one, during my travel to a foreign land) pointing to me that in most of my posts ( blogs/ instagram), I don't glorify happiness enough. Glorify is a big word, but really, we don't emphasise it enough.
I've come to a realisation, a while ago that as I advanced in age, so will my thinking and judgements toward the world and people around me . Definitions of words changed for me. Just like the word '
LOVE'. Love when we were a kid meant mom and dad, our siblings, our grandparents who feed us all the time, ice creams, teddy bears and bed time stories. As we grew older..Love took a different form, some of the core things remain..but now, it involves friends, lovers, deep conversations, laughing with people who matter and food (lots of them).
Notice that all that I've mentioned had an association toward the feeling of being loved. And how would one describe it ? A feeling of comfort and warmth and all the mushy feeling meshed up in a ball of something that we feel with our hearts and of course, controlled by the Limbic system in our brains . We emphasise on that. In fact, we crave for it. We notice it when it arrives and anticipate the train of emotions that it takes us through.
Then again, when you search for Love (no pun intended) on the web, you'll find hundreds if not thousands of meanings to it. And you will only settle for the meaning(s) that clicks- to your heart and soul. Most often than not, it will be rooted on your view of the world, the people around you and how you were brought up
Happiness does the same thing. When we were kids, happiness meant running with no pants on around the house, feeding the fishes you have as pets, colouring, getting a new toy and bed time stories. As we grew older, happiness meant eating your favourite food, talking, dancing, chasing after your ambitions and watching funny youtube videos or laughing at the latest meme on 9gag. But happiness slowly dissipates with time. It changes form with age and morphs into something else. We become more attuned to the negative energy, in efforts to be more 'realistic' as we mature. People somehow associate happiness and bliss with immaturity and naivety that we rarely allow it access to our lives.
"But happiness slowly dissipates with time. It changes form with age and morphs into something else."
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
We always wonder why we can't achieve happiness like our goals. That's because, happiness
isn't a goal. It is the in-between moments while you're on the road
toward your goal. It's the minute moment when that genuine smile hits your face from seeing your family after a long time apart, it's lovers gazing into each other's eyes, it's the moment a new mother gets to hold her baby for the first time, it's hearing a baby's first cry, it's the feeling you feel when your pet greets you after a long day, it's laughing at yourself, it's laughing at life. Happiness is anything and everything that makes you smile, it's so simple, fundamental and yet we deny ourselves that privilege by being consumed by the negativity, by the fear that showing 'too much' of enthusiasm and happiness will scare people away and by not allowing yourself to - just be.
"That's because, happiness isn't a goal. It is the in-between moments while you're on the road toward your goal."
So whenever you sit down and wonder why your life isn't complete because you're 'unhappy'. Go get yourself an ice cream and look around you for a minute or two. Appreciate the weather, the sun, the blue skies and the sounds from the chatter of people around you. Appreciate that the world is yours to live, the people around you are there to support you and there is always, always Someone up there you can count on.
"Happiness is anything and everything that makes you smile, it's so simple, fundamental and yet we deny ourselves that privilege by being consumed by the negativity"
I implore you to dissect the details of your day to day lives. Start from the small things that make life beautiful and in no time, you will find greater things that make life meaningful and happiness will always be just a thought away. ;)
And always remember ;
