Finding Happiness

By K. Prafull I feel finding happiness is like finding yourself. You can't find happiness, you can make happiness, and you can choose happiness. I can remind a famous quote from Hugh Downs “A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a certain set of attitudes.” Yeah it completely depends over how you take thing. Our happiness depends on us only; I like to share a story with you it is about an ass, belonging to an herb-seller who gave him too little food and too much work made a petition to god to be released from his present service and provided with another master. God, after warning him that he would repent his request, caused him to be sold to a tile-maker. Shortly afterwards, finding that he had heavier loads to carry and harder work in the brick-field, he petitioned for another change of master. God, telling him that it would be the last time that he could grant his request, ordained that he be sold to a tanner. The Ass found that he had fallen into worse hands, and noting his master's occupation, said, groaning: "It would have been better for me to have been either starved by the one, or to have been overworked by the other of my former masters, than to have been bought by my present owner, who will even after I am dead tan my hide, and make me useful to him." This story tell sometimes we undervalue circumstances and mislay happiness unknowingly so we should always look at the positive side of the scene; the glass should be always half full, rather half empty. We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get MBA degree, get a job, we’ll certainly be happy when well get own house. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire. The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. One of my favourite quotes comes from Alfred D. Souza. He said, "For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life." This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time with... and remember that time waits for no one. So, stop waiting ... until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you're off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you die, until you're born again to decide that. There is no better time than right now to be happy and remember it’s only you who can make yourself happy.