What is Happiness?

Of late, this question has been haunting me and I kept brushing it aside. Yesterday, as I was on my way back home it struck me again. So I wanted to probe on it. Immediately, my mind zeroed to a list of thing which would make me happy. I wasn't satisfied with the reply and thought is this list happiness? In that case, if there are n number of people on earth, then there would be n number of definition for happiness, as the wish list would vary from people to people.

Fine, even if we take the wish list to be one's definition for happiness, isn't the wish list a momentary thing? When I'm in the womb, I wish to see the world, when I come out I want attention as a child, once I get that I want food, then want to crawl, want to walk, then run, then school.. Now I want to excel, next want to get into a good college, next a good job, next happy marriage, then kids, then their education... My wish list gets longer and longer and longer...

I work hard to achieve, what is there in my wishlist and sacrifice every small happiness that come in the way to achieve my aim and once I achieve it, I celebrate. Now the moment I celebrate, my other wish to maintain or keep excelling starts. So when am I really happy?

For a pauper in the streets, going in a cycle is happiness, for a cyclist going in bike is happiness, a motorcyclist wishes to be a proud car owner, a car owner wishes for a latest brand top end model. So where does it stop. No one is happy at where they are? We are only happy in the eyes of others. For A thinks, that others who have, what A wants is happy.

Even the 5th world's richest man will have a wish list and would want to beat the 4th and in turn the 4th, the 3rd or the 1st. The wish list becomes bigger and bigger at each level. At their level, the agony is, they don't have the time to enjoy what they make rather strive to maintain or grow.

So what is happiness now?

Shouldn't we strive to grow big?

Shouldn't we aspire?

I still don't have an answer but I think, we need to grow in life, we need to aspire but it should be an individual marking for self. It should be a self zeroed goal and not a one, we have framed with other's growth. If we make goals only considering us and try to achieve the goals, we definitely wont feel stressed and worked out. Rather, it would help us enjoy the journey we take to achieve the goals and will fill us with the energy to achieve our next.

Once we start marking our growth with others, the problem begins. Happiness is out of us even before we reach a goal and we wouldn't be happy even when we achieve the same. We need to look back into our past, the goals we achieved and the approach we had to reach the same. May be that satisfaction is what we call happiness.

This thought would definitely fill you with positivity and you become happy. Once you are happy, you spread happiness around. Happiness doubles by sharing. Even a big genuine smile can make you happy. You begin to see everything around you with a different outlook. You seem to enjoy everything around. Even a bright colored flower is enough to make you happy provided you are filled with an unadulterated mindset.

If we become the reason to put one genuine smile on others face, that would become a big sole reason for us to rejoice.