pondering over what is Happiness?...Aditi

To: member_cai@yahoogroups.com From: aditichaudhary84@hotmail.com Date: Sun, 6 Nov 2011 20:35:37 +0530 Subject: [member_cai] Happiness Happiness I have been recently pondering over what is Happiness? I impatiently googled and was flooded with quotes, sayings and write ups. I tried reading self help books but it didn’t quench my thirst. I felt as if something was Missing. Nothing seemed perfect!!!! Is happiness really in buying a Ferrari, a villa in the heart of the city or having a Swiss bank account? Then I looked inward and thought, why not think over what is happiness to me…. Happiness is the excitement you feel when you buy something insignificant like a soft toy or a fridge magnet and still feel the joy you would feel if you brought an expensive diamond ring. It is flipping through childhood snaps and reliving each moment again. It is going for a stroll and feeling the wind romance your face, when you walk to the end of Nariman point and feel nothing could have been more serene and blissful when the water splashes over you and all that you can see is endless possibilities.. Happiness is in those moments when you shop for a dozen of things and then get excited like a child to show all, to your near and dear ones.. Happiness is above all materialistic things, when I see my student in school improve even point one percent, it is in the Eyes of those parents whom I feel have Courage of Steel and a Heart of Iron. Happiness is when my student in school feels secure with me, when they come to me for absolutely nothing, just smile and go back… For me Happiness is when I see my loved ones smiling in their sleep… Happiness to me is like a flowing stream…there are pebbles and obstructions on the way but it goes on and ultimately unites with the mighty river. I learn from this that when you share your happiness it grows Bigger just like the stream unites with the river. Happiness plays Peek a boo with you… You try to find it endlessly at times and other times it is right within you… There will be times when we are flooded with dilemmas and question marks, when life seems to be getting tough, when sharing your secrets and memories can be misused, when love is taken for granted and forgotten, when priorities change but in this moment of downhill there is one small inner voice which pops up and says “ALL IS WELL and ALL WILL BE WELLJ” It is that Inner Strength which gives you Hope to relive life again with the same Enthusiasm, Zest, Free Spirit you once had. To give life all that you have with zero expectations in return, it is that Hope that gives you the Courage to Stand against odds even if you are Alone and feel Victory despite of the results you get… Happiness is in the belief that a day will come when the one you Love the most will understand your Worth, Innocence, Intentions, Feelings, Pain and Sacrifices… Happiness to me is believing in YOURSELF, in your Capabilities, in Respecting your self and your Life, in achieving your best Potential and Never say Never!!!! I would sum it in a quote by Leo C. Rosten: “I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be "happy." I think the purpose of life is to be Useful, to be Responsible, to be Compassionate. It is, above all, to matter and to count, to Stand for something, to have made some Difference that you Lived at all.” __._,_.___