Is it Possible to be Happy

The art of living does not consist in preserving and clinging to a particular mode of happiness, but in allowing happiness to change its form without being disappointed by the change; happiness, like a child, must be allowed to grow up. ~ Charles L. Morgan, one of the greatest English prose writer and novelist.

Seeking happiness or the pursuit of happiness is one of the ultimate goals of every human being. There are billions of people in this world who try to be happy and they do their best, chasing external sources to find it.

Is Being Happy Really Possible?

'How to be happy', is probably, the most asked and thought over question in human life. All our works, desires and hopes are somewhere directed towards pursuing happiness. Happiness is indeed a very subjective and a broad concept. In fact, happiness can be related to everything in our life, our friends, family members, career, money, relationships, confidence etc. Writing and defining happiness under the restriction of words is indeed impossible. Does happiness really has some fixed definition? I feel, it doesn't have any bookish definition. In times of crisis, losses and disasters it is tough to remain positive. Hence, expecting oneself to remain happy in all situations, is a very ideal situation that is not easily achievable and is even not required practically. It is a fact of human life, that no human being can always remain happy, however, we can try to bring back happiness through various means and measures. That power of choice is with us. The nature of happiness is such that it fluctuates. It's never fixed. One incident triggers bundles of joy in us and the very next can make us feel pathetic. So, is happiness related to our mood swings and situations? Although, we feel happy when everything is fine in our life, happiness isn't totally dependent on these external parameters only.

In fact, if you've been alone, depressed, failed or have faced any challenging situations in life, you must have realized, every pain has somewhere strengthened you, making you more humble and open to natural life, that accepts happiness to be an aware choice of an individual. And not overtly dependent on circumstances. To quote Lavetta Sue Wegman, "You need to learn to be happy by nature, because you'll seldom have the chance to be happy by circumstance." So, in essence, if you ask me, is it possible to be happy, I would definitely say, Yes, it is. Just become aware of your inherent potential to choose happiness and there you'll discover a world where you are totally the one who makes choices. If you read various being happy quotes, you'll realize that most of the achievers who rose from rags to riches, were in some of the most challenging and trying circumstances in their life, those that our society will call 'sources of unhappiness'. However, they all realized that happiness is not a function of situation but it is a state of mind, a question of choice. Happiness is nothing but an enhanced feeling of well-being, a state of peace of mind wherein even something as simple as breathing is magical! Happiness in society has been associated with lots of bank balance and a luxury lifestyle. Moreover, in our capitalist society, happiness has become synonymous to money, a harsh truth, indeed. However, if you sit back and just ponder what makes you so happy, then you'll be surprised to know that things that make you happy in life are very simple.

The societal structure has made money and fame as the key sources of happiness. However, they are never the deciders of happiness, totally. Definitely, money plays a major role in giving us a comfortable life but then it is not everything in life. So, if you think that you can be happy without having some whooping bank balance, the answer is again an emphatic yes. None of the celebs, be it Brad or Angelina or anybody else are always happy. They do have a tough life. In fact, they do have many things to deal with, than what we encounter in life. It is really possible to be happy even if you're alone. Man being a social animal and the desire for companionship to be a very primal urge can find it very difficult to be happy alone but it may not be possible always. While loneliness due to loss of closed ones is heart breaking and requires time to be healed, relationship breaks and missing someone special in life are also no less thought over issues. So, being single is the road ahead to happiness? Well, here you've to look at the way how you're dealing with your single life. Are you seeing it as an opportunity to reinvent yourself, grow yourself professionally and personally? Or, you're just wasting time, escaping life and brooding over things and desperately searching for someone and ending with failures? If the case is latter one, the probability of which is generally higher as we all tend to follow the path of least resistance, then you've to reconsider your life's goals.

Probably, you've to become aware of various ways to be happy being single. If you learn to make new friends, who genuinely love spending time with you, then you'll automatically discover a whole new life! And if you work upon yourself, develop new hobbies, one day in the process, probably, without you being aware of it, you'll stumble upon somebody who wants you, somebody who needs you, truly! And there you'll be surprised for the wonderful love story waiting for you! There is always hope!

Life, in its basic architecture is such that we're bound to encounter situations that makes us unhappy. It is probably, life's way of teaching us. Nevertheless, we human beings are blessed with wonderful machinery called the mind, that has the ability to create happiness by the power of choice. We have the ability to come up with our own ways of how to achieve happiness. Happiness springs from within and when it emanates from there, it is hardly affected by external situations. That is why spiritual leaders thrust on the need of meditation and Yoga as these practices enhance inner well-being and that peace reflects in our daily living making us content and more happy. A very natural state of existence, indeed. Everyone must make efforts to learn how to be happy in life because that is the key to better quality of life. However, learning to be happy, is one of the most difficult arts one will encounter with, because during that process, we've to learn to let go our resentments, grudges, past, missed opportunities and failures from mind, which is generally tough.

We all have some devil within us that clings to negative things in such a way that losing them means too much for us. And that's why brooding over things and crying over the split milk is generally found phenomena in majority of cases. But then, that is the hindrance to happiness and overcoming it must be a challenge before us. After all, it is we who create our life and so we must choose positive thoughts! Lastly, there are various things to make you happy, all you've to do is just know and start inculcating them in your lives.

After patiently reading up till here, don't you want to express what you feel about happiness? Well, you can give your views below, in the comments column about what you feel about happiness. And do vote for the poll. Let millions of readers know your idea of happiness. And let us help each other by sharing our ideas on how to achieve happiness because in making others happy, we ourselves become happy!