A dictionary defines everything for the word happiness, but it does not show how to achieve it, feel it, share it, so we will not give the dictionary meaning of Happiness.

Happiness has two components, an intrinsic, immediate & other measureable. The intrinsic is joy & the measurable part is satisfaction.

When parents play with a child, the smile of the kid is joy to the parent, when child walks his/her first step it is joy, but when the child covers some distance, some steps- it is satisfaction of a measurable journey .

Groucho Marx said :

Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.

It’s the events that create Happiness :

• Falling in love, less traffic on roads on a Saturday, a glance of lofty mountains Mount Blanc on French Alps on a chilly, windy June noon, no serpentine lines at the booking window of the theater, going on drive with your loved one or racing  down the hill (old Khandalla ghats ) with your friends, hearing your favorite song on FM whilst driving to office & waiting at signal light, getting a crazy hair cut at an unexplored saloon, going to swim with your neighbor.
• Getting a thousand rupee note in the pocket from last winter coat, having your neighbor send you homemade food on a Sunday afternoon. Holding hands with someone you care about.
• Watching the expression on your child’s face as they open a much-desired present from you.
• Getting out of bed in the morning and being grateful to lord for showering another beautiful day, when going on tour & your loved one asking when you would return and knowing that someone misses you.

All these are events, which do bring cheer, thrill leading to happiness, the joy part.

An old saying says, some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.

Trust none would fall in the latter category.

A child of class tenth was asked to write an essay on what he wanted to become when he grew up. He scribbled I want to be HAPPY; the teacher yelled on the child “ you have not understood the assignment”, the child murmured “you have not understood the LIFE”. Being a doctor, lawyer, engineer etc. is a profession for livelihood, but being happy is the service to lord God & your 360 degree environment

Being happy doesn’t mean you’ve achieved nirvana, you’re perfect. It just means you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections & take life with a stride

If you think sunshine brings you happiness, then you haven’t danced in the rain. Try recollecting your last month social/professional activities & count the seconds when someone made you smile, laugh, cry & when were you HAPPY, the balance sheet would show being Happy is always minimal .

A research done shows a baby smiles 400 times a day, an adolescent just 17 times & an adult doesn’t smile at all. It has been observed that a more successful man always keeps a stiff face, a false indicator that prosperity, growth, dignity & stress are signs of success. Real Answer to why we do not become happy after achieving success.

To be happy, get up every morning & see the mirror & smile to yourself. As you smile the face muscles & nerves in the brain RELAX this imparts confidence & energy to move forward, on the other hand when one is low in spirits, umpteen reasons to let you down, smiles get snatched away by your own acquaintances/actions, leading you to say in ignorance that your smile is costly & anger is cheaper, it’s here where one has to be bold & say “any circumstances I am going to smile today & be Happy everyday”.

“A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.”

Sometimes all you can do is walk away, hide your tears, and just pretend you’re okay. There is a saying, “I like walking in rain as no one can see me crying “.

To be happy, you have to make others happy, take every opportunity to praise others & support their enthusiasm.

Enthusiasm is also a part of happiness; remember the enthusiasm one has when he/she goes for their first date, or see the first Film fare award night or your first day at college etc. Someone without enthusiasm is like a dead pan, but as you mature the enthusiasm curve declines & slowly we shift away from natural happiness to stiff faces. Everyone wants to be Happy & bubbling, needs to be pampered with pleasing, appeasing & cajoling approach, this is free, so use it frequently to impart & enhance face value of known/unknown people. They would be grateful to your gesture someday, even beverages company Coca Cola in their latest advertisement has used “OPEN HAPPINESS “ as the tag line . The satisfaction part of happiness.

A good example of happiness was shown in the movie Singh is king. Akshay Kumar in the role of Happy Singh, as the name, was seen happy in the movie from frame one till the end & the movie also made the viewers Happy. There was joy in the acts & satisfaction in the content. A true formula for feeling Happiness, a short supply commodity created by today’s fast forward wired gadget world when everyone is a click away to hear & see, but missing the one & only link to fulfillment of feelings & happiness. Take life in the stride, and enjoy the little little moments and promise yourself to “Keep Smiling and creating Happiness in and around you”.

This post has been written by Mr S.K.Sachdev.

About S.K.Sachdev: He is a Pharmaceutical & Beverages expert, for having spent major part of his career with Dabur and Coca-Cola. His keen interests are monitoring political and business news and can be reached on this forum for any discussion related to the country, pharmacy, beverages.