The Pursuit of Happiness

Pursuing happiness is the main agenda of most people. Oxford Dictionary defined pursue as follow with the intent to catch or capture. What I got from the definition was that happiness is something out there, something that we have to follow and catch to feel or to experience it. That something might be getting a fulfilling job, a million dollars, a perfect mate, so on and so forth.

A few years back I was complaining about me not getting a promotion. I was not happy and I thought getting a promotion will bring me the happiness I was pursuing. I got the promotion and I was very happy. However the happiness did not last long. New commitments were made, more bills were added and some of them were getting bigger. A new pursue began, “I’ll be happy if I get another promotion.” I was present to the fact that the same cycle will continue, on and on and on….. Am I going to let myself in the same “fate” as I was before or get out of it? I chose to be grateful with what I have at the moment and enjoy it. By choosing to be grateful, I’m releasing the happiness which is already inside me (and every one of us). If we do not chose to be grateful, greed will prevent us from feeling the happiness.

I did not say that you should be “contented” and not working hard to pursue your dream. You should continue pursuing your dream, but you don’t have to postpone your happiness to “someday”. You can experience the happiness right now, regardless of the situation you are in now by accepting what you are having.

“Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get.” - Charles F Kettering.

Happy is a way of being. When you are being happy, you created a space that allowed yourself to be the best you can. When you give your best, the universe will give the best to you.