The truths of life - Part II
Living in harmony with one's environment enhances quality of life, since good physical and mental health is predicated largely on how and where we live. It is for this reason that the poorest countries of the world are happier than richer countries.
AS EXPLAINED in the previous part of this article, many people believe that greater wealth implies greater unhappiness because of many reasons. This means that only someone with lesser income would receive true happiness.
In reality, there appears to be a little correlation between income and happiness. People with higher incomes, spend more time in activities that are linked with negative feelings, such as tension and stress. Instead of having more time for leisure, they spend more time at and commuting to work. They are quite often in moods that are described as hostile, angry, anxious, and tense.
Money, therefore, does not buy happiness. In most of the countries, people below the poverty line, who have low earnings, are happier than the people belonging to higher income groups. They live mostly in their present moment and do not ponder over what has gone by and what is going to come.
There is something new in the idea that money does not buy happiness. Many religions instruct us that attachment to material possessions makes us unhappy. It is also said that money can not buy us love. In this sense, love is known to be blind. But, there is something paradoxical about all this.
Why do governments in various countries focus on increasing per capita income? Why do so many of us strive to obtain more money, if it won’t make us happier? The answer lies in our nature as purposive beings. Earlier, accumulating money up to a certain amount, provided a safeguard against lean times, but, now it has become an end in itself and it has become a status or success symbol.
Making money gives us something to do that feels worthwhile, as long as we do not reflect too much on why we are doing it. In fact, there is more to happiness than being in a good mood.
It is also said that happiness is subjective- one man’s idea of happiness differs vastly from another’s; but taken in a wider sense, happiness really boils down to satisfaction of very basic requirements and some more, along with the absence of certain fears like violence.
Living in harmony with one’s environment enhances quality of life, since good physical and mental health is predicated largely on how and where we live. It is for this reason that the poorest countries of the world are happier than the richest countries.
In order to be happy, we must use our common sense. According to Vivekananda, common sense is the most uncommon thing in this world. We must remember that:
- We are born in this world and have to live our own life. We should, therefore, take responsibility for our life and learn to mind our own business.
- We have to change ourselves at the individual level and learn to live harmoniously with everybody. We must also remember that “no man is an island”. We have to also live with nature, material objects of the world and all other living beings, including plants, animals and human beings.
- Two things are necessary for happiness: Change and living in peace and harmony. If we lack these, we will have hatred, dislike and indifference, allowing nothing but negativity.
- To live in peace and harmony, we should follow the tenet, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” We all want to live happily and should therefore show consideration to others as well, for their happiness. In essence, we should look at others in the same way as we view ourselves.
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.Dear Sir,
You are bang on truth. Happiness neither belongs to the rich or the poor but only to those who are cpontent and satisfied. Take a child dancing to the singing by poor masons - at that moment they are the happiest equaly and their degree of happiness equals in comparison to a couple dancing in a 5 star discothique. Hence controling greed and desire as Lord Budha said in his 5 fold path really makes you a truly happy person. Our Vedas, Shastras and many other religous texts tell you to concentrate on God so as to make you forget self esteem, false ego, Greed, Anger, Desire and duality.
Dear Manu,
Thanks for going through my Paper. Whatever I have written also reflects my own experince. As they say, past is history, future if mystery, and the "present" is the present / gift of God. Live your present moment fully and you would experience happiness.Poor people live from morning till evening. It is for this reason that they are happier than the richer people, who either ponder over their past and think of what is going to happen tomorrow.
Lamhe aate hain jaate hain, sajane shama meehfil ki,
Hamein fursat nahin milti unhi se dil lagaane ki.
I am also a poet with pen name of NAZAR.
Vinod Anand
CJ
Allahabad
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