What makes us happy?

As we celebrate World Happiness Day today, let us take a moment to reflect on what really makes us happy? Is it that long awaited job promotion that you were aspiring towards, a new house or a new car? But once these goals are fulfilled, they can still leave you empty and hollow inside.

Seeking material things to become bigger and better, looking for approval from others, are all things that feeds our Ego. After all, is it not what society dictates us to do? It is our Ego’s reward after striving to reach  these accomplishments measured in terms of material wealth, status..  (click here to view our post “Ego, Friend or Enemy”)

Anything that is motivated by a sense of insufficiency cannot be sustainable, as any sense of fulfillment is short lived.  Soon we would want more, an even better job, a bigger house or a bigger car, and so it carries on…

The Secret of True Happiness  

I was going through some of the groups that I follow on Facebook last week and reading some of the comments left by followers. There were a lot of complaints, accusations and criticisms, with an occasional refreshing positive comment flashing through from time to time.

“How unhappy are we becoming?”

We are living today in a society where it is becoming increasingly acceptable for people to complain and criticize, conditioning our state of mind to be used to complaining and seeing problems instead of seeing opportunities. The “my glass is always half empty” syndrome, instead of being grateful that “my glass is always half full”.  

How do we then reverse this conditioned state? One of the ways of reversing this process is to meditate. Meditation will give you the opportunity to:

• Reflect on ourselves  
•  Have a sense of control over our mind and body and ultimately our behaviour and actions
• Instill peace and balance within our self, helping us to be fully conscious of the present moment we are in, and accepting fully who we really are, WITHOUT JUDGEMENT

Ingredients to Sustain True Happiness  

Research has shown that sustainable happiness is brought by:

• Creativity
• Doing something that gives you purpose in life
• Creating relationships that makes other people happy, giving you a sense purpose and fulfillment

Deepak Chopra mentioned the three A’s that brings sustainable happiness:

• Attention – means being totally present and be aware of people around us by giving them our full attention with no judgement    

• Appreciation -being aware and give appreciation to those around us and things around us, such as give a compliment to someone for a job well done, or appreciating a sunset

• Affection – where you are open and caring for people around you – Love is a powerful healer

“Happiness is not something readymade. It comes from your own actions”

The Dalai Lama

I would like to leave you with an inspiring video from the Dalai Lama on “A Guide to Happiness” :

Hope you enjoy the video and we welcome any feedback or comments you might have!

Wishing you Good Health and a great World Happiness Day!