Defining Happiness

Let us reflect on a couple of questions to start the conversation on an introspective note today. My first question is - Are you happy today? Give it a thought. My second question is - Why? If you are feeling happy - Why, and if you are feeling unhappy - Why? Have you given it a thought? Most of us want to be happy, but many of us have never introspected the definition and causes of happiness in our life. Let us dedicate today's JoyMantra to start demystifying happiness. Because, until we have clarity on what happiness means to us and our happiness influencers, our happiness will be at the mercy of fate. 

Happiness is such a profound and subjective experience that it is not possible to contain it in a single definition. I am sharing not THE point of view but A point of view based on my experiences and research. I will be keen to hear your thoughts on what happiness means to you. My only request is to share your personal understanding as original thoughts, not a forwarded social media post or lines picked as it is from a book. 

In my experience, Happiness is an inner feeling of elation that liberates me from the bondage of time, space, situation, and desires. The fountain of inner joy pauses time and makes me feel complete, with nothing more to be desired. The experience is that of extended FLOW. Happiness for me is an inner compass that keeps me on the path of morality and goodness. Whenever I violate any of my core values the inner compass of happiness triggers a discomforting feeling immediately to inspire a course correction. 

Let us now also introspect on the causes of happiness in life. 

To begin with, the fulfillment of small desires itself gives a feeling of pleasure and we consider that as happiness until we realize that the feeling of elation caused by the fulfillment of a short-term desire is temporary. I call this as "pursuit of pleasure" phase of life. With experience, we realize that achieving personal, social, and professional goals gives us a bit of sustained feeling of elation and timelessness as we have better engagement with whatever we are doing. But after achieving one goal, we start pursuing another higher goal and this cycle limits our experience of elation. I call this as "pursuit of happiness" phase. 

In my experience, when we are engaged in a cause beyond our selfish interests, when the end goal, as well as means to achieve the end goal, are ethical, and the actions are not pleasure or materialistic gain driven but inspired by a higher purpose; we no longer work for joy, we work in joy. We move from the 'pursuit of happiness' to 'happiness in pursuit'. We are enjoying whatever we are doing with the intent of doing our best. This is when we are able to utilize our full creative potential. We are happy and we are at our best. The cycle of peaks and valleys may appear in our lives, but with a happy mindset, we have a better chance of bouncing back much faster. We realize that the way to happiness is - happiness on the way. 

Let us do what we love, and love what we do. 

These are my thoughts. Please do share your understanding of What Happiness Is...