Webster defines “happiness” as “a state of well-being; contentment; pleasurable satisfaction.” Considering individual differences and preferences, gives us differing reasons for contentment, and pleasurable satisfaction. I read an article a long time ago that in North Korea, children are taught early on to dismember insects and small birds by pulling off their limbs and their heads to train them to be destructive. This may be sadistic to most, but within our midst are people who find happiness in inflicting untold sufferings on others.
Are these the ways to a happy life?
Between the ordinary and the bizarre are countless ways to be happy, of expressions of happiness. Not least among them is another personal discovery from the Internet titled “12 Suggestions for a Happy Life,” a text of a speech delivered to a group of graduating students. I don’t know if his audience came out happier from the experience. I certainly would not. Here are some of them:
Dream:
Having a dream is not necessarily going to lead to a happy life. Accomplishing one’s dreams do. And there’s a whale of a difference between having one and realizing it. Ninety-five percent of those who dream fail, and continue to fail. Statistics can attest to this. Either something is wrong with their dreams or something is wrong with them.
Obey your parents:
Our streets are littered with beggars following their cues from their parents. I’ve met so many hookers pimped for by their parents. While obedience to the good counsel of parents forms a good basis for our later years in life, it is not a guarantee for happiness in the long haul. My father slowly killed himself through alcohol. If anything, it taught me to keep away from it. One’s happiness is a personal matter. It can be shared but it cannot be created for us.
Read:
My mother taught me early to love reading. A lot of our young people today do read - slut. Tabloids are snapped up like hotcake while educational reading, that kind of reading that contributes to one’s professional upliftment, make him/her a better person, is in the backburner. Another definition of happiness anchored on different perspective.
Study Chinese:
Simplistically this supposes that all Chinese lead happy lives? The author has a Chinese middle name but I’m not sure if he is the epitome of happiness. While knowledge of Chinese is a plus in the Philippines, business-wise, speaking and thinking are, again, very different. You’ve got to think like a Chinese to gain entry into the very parochial Chinese business world.
This has got to be the most kooky way to lead a happy life that I’ve ever come across.
Do not waste time:
In the Philippines it is not “cool” to be punctual. The author knows this, so instead of extolling the virtues of punctuality, he opted for the more politically insane “do not waste your time.” No matter how “good” one uses time, it is still not good enough if late. Timing is all.
I bet the commencement exercises did not start of time. It is so un-cool if it did.
Pray:
The author feels sadden that “people often pray when they’re in a crisis.” That’s totally untrue. In the Philippines people pray all the time - especially when the Lotto grand prize has reached hundreds of millions of pesos. Priests can attest to the increase of churchgoers in times like this. I’ve met so many people who thank God for their good fortunes even if they were gained illegally.
Happiness, an elusive thing:
Each day I pray for peace of mind, of heart and soul. Just one simple thing for every aspect of my being. Unfortunately the guy next door prays for money he can drop into that pesky videoke box so he can sing till the wee hours of the morning tormenting every fiber of my mind, my heart and my soul with the noise.
Contentment is relative. If one is contented with the status quo, the relatives are very scarce. So one has to raise that level of contentment higher. And this is no more evident than in people who gamble. I never tire of their funny stories of “the real big one that got away.”
Our hospital wards are full of people who are in a state of “perfect happiness.” They are called mentally insane. Drug companies are making a killing from pills for people with depression. These are those who shun the opportunity or are incapable to be happy.
Others look forward to the day when they will be called back by their Maker and enjoy unbridled happiness. These are people who have given up hope of ever finding happiness within their hearts here and now.
Me? At my age, I feel thankful to wake to another day in my life - which is getting shorter. But happiness is not in the empty half of the glass. It is in the filled half.
Tags: contentment, good counsel, obedience, personal discovery
