The Art Of Being Happy
The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things.
I passed a young woman on the road the other day, and even though we barely exchanged a smile, she touched my life in a simple yet profound way. Well, it so happened that I was returning home from work that evening after an unusually hectic day. I was obviously preoccupied with thoughts about my day’s engagements when I saw this woman coming towards me along the road. She was having a tough time walking straight since she had this big package which she was trying to balance with both her hands. What she held was a simple water purifier – a manual filter and not the more advanced electronic aqua guards that are common today. I guess it’s a more affordable solution for students or bachelors living in a single room or a shared accommodation.
Now what really made me pause and pay more attention to this lady was the unusual smile on her face! It was a smile of great joy, satisfaction, and a sense of accomplishment! It was the smile I had on my face when I purchased something with my own money for the first time. In a way it is a realization and also the self-satisfaction of being able to reap the fruits of ones own labor. It’s a feeling that most of us soon forget and lose the ability to feel in the midst of all the stress, chaos, and exhaustion that work life brings with it. But for that young lady, nothing else mattered more at that moment than to hold something in her hands that she acquired with her hard-earned labor. Oblivious of her surroundings, and the looks of a few observant and introspective onlookers, she continued smiling to herself and kept stealing glances at her precious possession.
She walked by me and I doubt if I’ll ever see her again, but the smile will haunt me for a long time to come. I wish to smile like her again. I wish I could turn back time and go back to the day when I got my first paycheck, and more so, I wish I could feel the same excitement whenever I receive my paycheck at the end of each month. But for most of us the paycheck just means more bills to pay and another long month’s labor and wait before our pockets feel heavy again.
I could go on and on about the art of being happy and about how adulthood has robbed us of the ability to be truly happy, but I earnestly urge you, as I do myself, to ponder over the words of Henry Ward Beecher. Perhaps we have to learn to be like children again and learn to find happiness in the common and little things in life and not wait for great things to happen. Didn’t some wise man (Humphry Davy) say that “Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things, in which smiles and kindness, and small obligations given habitually, are what preserve the heart and secure comfort.“
Rohit Daniel 