“What makes me happy?” This question never crossed my mind
the way business bestseller Harvey Mackay explains it. Mackay prescribes
happiness as a way of life, something like enjoying every moment of our life
through thick and thin. It’s not momentary happiness which one derives after
wearing a trendy dress, or the ecstasy of love birds during a date. What if the
next day is a Monday and one is back to one’s old dress, or the love birds are
buried under tonnes of work in their respective offices, not finding even a few
moments to exchange sweet nothings over phone.
The next day, how happy could one be, it’s entirely one’s
choice. That’s what most psychologists and personality development gurus tell
us. They also stress that to reach our goals, we must be in a happy frame of
mind most of the time. So, if being happy is entirely our call, what can we do
to remain cheerful. In response to this question, I tried to whip up a
happiness recipe. Let me share some ingredients of this recipe with you.
To ensure our bonding with happiness, we need to take care
of our heart and give it a tonic. No, it’s not a costly tonic prescribed by
some cardiologist. It’s something which each one has to and can produce on
his/her own. It’s the tonic of love, joy, enthusiasm and inspiration. I derive
this tonic from inspiring quotes and real-life stories about the indomitable
human spirit. Among my favourite quotes is this high-voltage adrenaline-booster
from American basketball legend Michael Jordan: “I have missed more than 9000
shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been
trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and
over again in my life. And, that’s why I succeed.” These words are proof why
Jordan is a legend.
Another must for creating happiness is that we should try
our best to be naturally cheerful at the places where we spend most of our
time. Obviously, these two places are our home and our office. We have certain
expectations from our near and dear ones and our office colleagues. Similarly,
they also have certain expectations from us. We can only be happy if we are
able to balance these expectations keeping in mind our and their limitations.
How we treat or are concerned about fellow human beings also
contributes a lot to our happiness. I feel a lot of good has happened around us
because some people have gone out of their way to extend a helping hand to the
needy. The other day I read about a top Hollywood
executive-turned-philanthropist, Scott Neeson. Not long ago Scott was enjoying
a luxurious Hollywood life reflected in his million-dollar salary with
trappings of a mansion, a yacht, a Porsche, etc. But he left it all when the
plight and helplessness of wretched Cambodian child scavengers brought tears
into his eyes. Until Scott extended a helping hand, these children were exposed
to deadly diseases while scouring toxic dumps for recyclable materials to make
a living. Scott started the Cambodian Children Fund (CCF) with his own $100,000
and gave these children hope for a bright future through healthy living and
good education.
Agreed, we don’t have $100,000 to do a Scott, but we can
certainly follow our own Hamid. This 5-year-old protagonist of Premchand’s
moving masterpiece Idgah overcomes a child’s natural temptations for
swing rides, toys and mouth-watering sweets to buy a chimta for his dadi.
Hamid by spending his meagre possession of three paise to help her dadi exhorts
us to rise above our personal interests and serve humanity even with our modest
means. Hamid, created by Premchand 80 years ago, popped up in a KBC question the
other day. Hamid will always be relevant for all
those who want to share the pain of others.
We are lucky that we have inherited the priceless wisdom of Bhagwat
Gita. If we are able to truly absorb the powerful words of Lord Krishna, no
power on earth can make us unhappy. Then there is spiritual and enlightening Gitanjali penned
by Rabindranath Tagore, which exhorts us to create a world “Where the mind is
without fear and head is held high”. Just read it when you see narrow and
negative thoughts creeping into your mind.
Sharing happiness is as important as creating it for
ourselves. Renowned Hindi poet Jai Shankar Prasad expresses this feeling
beautifully in this verse taken from his marvellous creation Kamayini:
Oron ko hanste dekho Manu
Hanso aur sukh pao
Apne sukh ko vistrut kar lo
Jag ko sukhi banao
Let’s first be happy ourselves and then share our happiness
with others.
*This piece of mine I have reproduced from the house
magazine of my previous company, Kogent Learning Solutions.
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