Sunday morning inspiration – HAPPINESS

Sunday Morning Inspiration- Happiness – Dr Okechukwu Ekemezie.

Can we truly be happy? Can happiness be achieved? or is it just a myth that was invented to make us buy new things, according to Gregory David Roberts (get book Shantaram: A Novel)?

Happiness is a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction an accomplishment.

We all want to be happy. But for many of us, happiness is an elusive, fleeting state that we can capture only for a brief moment, before it floats away like dust in the wind.

The truth is that as human beings, almost all of our forward momentum is driven by the pursuit of happiness. Even the desire to socialize, to love, and to connect with other human beings is driven by our desire to be happy. The pursuit of better jobs, higher status, more wealth – the root of everything we’re chasing is happiness.

This certainly doesn’t mean that everything we chase will bring us happiness. In fact, a big part of our struggle with life is figuring out what makes us happy, and perhaps more importantly, what makes us consistently happy.

An everlasting state of happiness (which sadly enough many people pursue) is humanly impossible, even nature a times don’t permit it (you will certainly grief a loved one). I believe in moments of happiness, but we will be sad at one point.

On the other hand, making an effort to be happy as you can be is a worthwhile goal.

Nathaniel Hawthorne made a great point when he said “Happiness is like a butterfly which when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, will alight upon you.

Here are some shocking truths about happiness….

1. 60% of Happiness is genetic, the other 40% is under your control. Its what to unconsciously do everyday that makes you happy without even realizing it. The moment you want to be happy, quantify or even measure it, you somehow become sad and wish you never had that thought. The genetic predisposition also help explains why countries like Denmark is always rated the most happy country on earth.


2. Happiness isn’t rooted in things, people or events. It cannot be secured if its rooted in changeable, destructible things; bank account and careers can change, loved ones taken away from us. The only place the world cant touch is our inner selves, our choices at every moment which make us truly happy.


3. Stop living for the future. This can best be explained by a story of a man who went for a walk with his 100 year old granny and asked her why she was always so happy. She paused for a second and smiled…her reply was simply “am always so happy because I have no future”. The grandson was shocked by the reply but she further explained that when she was younger, she had a future and so many plans ahead but wasn’t happy. So we can see that a person is truly happy when you no longer live in time. When you savour the present moment and stop worrying about a tomorrow or an event that may unlikely happen. Stay in the present moment always and do the things that keep you in a state of FLOW.


4. Do the Gratitute exercise always. Gratitude is a spiritual exercise for maintaining long-lasting happiness. Being grateful for everything we have and that comes our way makes us mindful of the tiniest details of our lives, and it gives us a sense of contentment which in turn makes us truly happy.

In conclusion, Happiness is not a myth, it’s a choice that you opt out each day. Its something that resides inside us. When you look for it outside yourself, you are surely, as night follows the day, going to fail. So from this moment, choose to be happy, surround yourself with happy people and always remember that happiness is a journey and not a destination.

Why not clap along (with Pharrell Williams) if you feel and truly know that happiness is in you. BECAUSE AM HAPPY...

 

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