The other day I attended a great presentation day, where the topic – amongst many others – was the search for happiness. I find this topic very interesting, as the happiness or the lack of the same can determine our life at its basis. Before I start with my own thoughts about it, let me start with a quote from Aristotle:

Indeed, happiness depends exclusively on us. I believe the same and experience it in the real life too.

However, many people think that happiness is something that they will feel if they achieved a goal (e.g. promotion at the workplace, salary increase, sports achievement?) or if they obtain something tangible (e.g. a new car, apartment) in the future.

Or maybe they think that happiness is something that they had in the past, but it is over now, and they cannot be happy again. Those who are stuck in this way of thinking will never be able to be happy entirely.

Can you guess what happens to them when they reach the subject of their happiness in the future?

Nothing, really.

The best-case scenario is that they will have a certain amount of happiness-boost, which as quickly as it came will go away as well. It does not stay with us. It will not be a part of our life on the long run to make our life sweeter and more colourful. The wave of happiness is a great thing, but as its name shows, it is just a wave. And just like the wave of the ocean, it will flatten and cease to exist.

I see people in pursuit of happiness day by day. They are chasing money, “better” life, bigger, louder, more powerful car, higher positions at the workplace, more expensive watches, more and more special and unique things, which they hang on themselves and put around themselves. And list could go on.

But are they really happy?

I guess we all suspect that they are not. Even if they are, I can surely confirm that their happiness does not come from these above things.

I have seen a video a while ago, which is exactly about this topic. It shows us how lost the people of these days are about the concept of happiness and its search. I believe that this video is a must-see for all of us! Watch it and think about how deep did you fall into this trap? Indeed this is what happiness means in life?

How much do you allow yourself to be happy in the first place? Are you afraid of being happy maybe? Or do you think that you do not deserve to be happy? Maybe you do not have the time to be happy? These are deep questions, but the arriving answers and thoughts can be even deeper…

If after the video you think that something should be done differently, you can still have the question:

“Ok, but how??”

If we would like to be really happy, it is important not to tie it to conditions. Happiness is here around us, inside us, at this present moment too. It is part of us. We, ourselves, are it. As one of my masters told me at the beginning of this week: “You are all happy here and now. You just have no idea about it.”.

And the main point is the HERE and NOW. Being present consciously, experiencing the things happening to us at this very moment, enjoying them. Let’s have an open, curious, child-like attitude about the happenings of the now. Let’s try to observe the situations from outside – this can open a completely new dimension in our everyday life.

Happiness basically depends on whether I am willing to see and notice it in my life as of now.

Not in the past, not in the future – but here and now. Can I see those things, those even tiny factors which (can) make me happy now?

I wish there was a switch and by using that we could get into the state of being consciously present and we could feel the complete, unconditional happiness. Until this switch is invented, we need to move forward step by step, we need to improve, practice, and become more and more conscious.

Let’s enjoy it! 🙂 ¤