Life is stressful and taxing for most people, in this era of overachievement and status seeking. Only little children can demand and receive happiness unconditionally.  In spite of their tantrums, their self-centred existence and their calm disregard of anything outside their small sphere, everybody humours them. Their expectations of happiness are not predicated by anything except the fulfillment of their basic needs. A hug, a warm meal, a bright toy, or the mere presence of their parents is enough to make them beam with happiness and contentment.

 Adults, on the other hand, are complex creatures. Contemporary lifestyles have created a sense of anxiety and trepidation, arising from our relentless pursuit of the bigger and the better. An alarming number of people are walking around with the complaint, “I just don’t feel well at all.” A large number of people also feel cheated because they feel that they have not been rewarded with the happiness that hard work and long hours are supposed to bring them.

 Stress related diseases are on the rise. Diseases like hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, anxiety and depression and even some cancers are precipitated or worsened by stress. One of the best ways to remain healthy is to actively pursue happiness.

 What is happiness?

Happiness is not the mere absence of sadness. It is a dynamic, positive, pulsating energy that fills you with a sense of wellbeing. Being content is the basic answer to happiness.

It is regrettable that people very often do not perceive that they are happy. Lost in the pursuit of changes in their life which supposedly would guarantee them this elusive emotion, they do not devote time to being happy.

The Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, tells a lovely fable. He describes the man who woke up at night with a severe toothache. Unable to get any medical attention till the next morning, the man whimpers that he would be in paradise if he could just be rid of the toothache. As he says it, he does not realize that in the 364 days of the year that he did not have the toothache, he actually had been in paradise!

The recognition of happiness

 Everyday, you must look at all the reasons you have to be happy. As Kalidasa said, “Yesterday is but a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision.” Unfortunately we often predicate our happiness on what could have happened yesterday or what we wish would happen tomorrow. And while we are berating the past or dreading the future, we let present happiness slip away without acknowledging it.  John Barrymore said, “Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open.”