How to Get Happiness

We've often heard that happiness acquired from temporary or materialistic means is short lived and that true happiness is one which is self-induced and is not attached to anything. True, Happiness that arises out of external things is bound to fade out as soon as that external thing is taken away. If you are happy because you just bought a new car, then that happiness is not going to last long. As days pass by, it will no longer matter and your new car will grow old, not bringing you any happiness and if it gets stolen, it is bound to make you sad. So we should not be happy due to anything materialistic or external? Quite not. Some materialistic happiness is needed. I'll explain as we progress ahead.

So, what is happiness and how does one go about acquiring it? Happiness is a state of mind and I will also add that it is self-induced just as sadness or even anger is. If someone comes up to you and were to slap you, what would happen? That action of getting slapped would get registered into your head and you will have various negative emotions attached to it. You will decide that you want to get angry and accordingly you will choose how you wish to react. So, you truly have the choice to react. Let's say that slap was administered in a friendly or playful way. Would you still get angry? This time you would choose a different response. The same is true for happiness. You get yourself a car, and you really decide to get happy. So, should you just decide to stay happy? No.

True happiness without any reason. Yes, it sounds good but yet is dangerous. It hinders growth. If you are happy with where you are, or what you are, you won't ever be pushed to change yourself. That happiness may lead you to stunt your growth in several areas of your life. It may sound a very mature idea to be happy without any reason but if you're in a world like ours, it won't take you any far. Happiness comes off as a reward and we end up developing ourselves to get rewarded. We end up doing all that gets us rewarded. However, the focus of the process should never be the reward. It should rather be the routine or the action which is rewarding. If you chase the reward, then you'll likely end up pursuing worldly pleasures and materialistic means of achieving happiness—something which will also bring with itself a lot of sadness and a lingering sense of craving more and dissatisfaction.

So, you shouldn't be happy with yourself. Especially, if you aren't living your life in all its colours or at its best. Staying happy internally will just make you satisfied with the life you have, sealing your fate of never being able to reach the mark you're really capable of. If someone who earns just barely enough to feed himself stays satisfied with his condition, then he will never look within himself or around himself the opportunities to grow and reach his full potential. He will only upgrade if he lets himself panic and feel discomfort due to his current condition, which will spark a change.

Happiness is a complicated subject but what I'm trying to tell you here is to change the way you look at happiness or try to get it. Of course, our lives revolve around happiness and it is always the centre of everything we do in our lives but know that it is truly you who decides what makes you happy. If you decide that external or materialistic means will get you happiness then they will, but not for long and with side effects. You should also not just choose to stay happy for no reason. That way, you would be wasting your potential away. You should, however, choose to get happy when you solve problems or when you grow. When you accomplish things. This kind of happiness is also short-lived, but this happiness encourages you to keep going ahead, benefiting you in the process. So, while you should chase health and wealth—they are needed, you will automatically get happiness in the process. Happiness should, therefore, come in the form of maintaining health and wealth and not due to individual materialistic goals falling under health or wealth.

What am I really trying to say? I am saying that you have to rewire yourself to choose to get happy about certain things out of others. If I were happy with my blog right now, I wouldn't have been typing this post out. I would have been satisfied with all the content I already have. I, however, get happy after publishing an article. This happiness lasts for a while, but then that's what gets me to post the next article. I have chosen to get happy after publishing an article, and since I have, that gets me to write even more articles, which is good for me since I get to organize my thoughts and understand myself while you get to know a different perspective to apply into your life. This is a good thing. I also am not happy with the physical health I am in right now. Yes, I do have a lean and sculpted body but that doesn't mean I can't push further. I chose to be happy after working out. This happiness is also short-lived, and that's what gets me to workout the next day, something which benefits me tremendously. However, if I were to buy a new car, I would choose not to be happy about that.

A car is a materialistic external thing and if I make it a reason for my happiness, I would suffer. My car would get old, could be dashed, could be stolen and with all of that, my happiness would just keep going on and off. I would then be tempted to get another car, maybe more cars since cars don't necessarily guard my happiness and I have chosen to get happy due to them. I will end up chasing cars, giving to materialistic happiness while cars don't benefit me at all. They contribute to pollution and increasing demands, putting our already exhausting resources to endangerment.

So, you have to let things make you happy instead of choosing to be internally happy but you have to decide to get yourself happy with things which help you and others. Things which contribute to your or someone else's overall growth. When you make this slight change, you will bring changes in yourself and in the world around you, while also acquiring happiness, something which will just drive you further.

Now that I'm just finishing this post, I am getting quite excited to get this published. Surely, I'm going to get a surge of happiness and that is going to keep me expanding this blog further and further.')