Can we manufacture happiness?

I sat down and stared at the wall, puzzled and contemplating what to look at next…I sighed. Little did I know that this would be the beginning of a new era in my life, a new way to look at the bigger picture of my life. I have grown up knowing a few basic principles about life. You wake up one day and you are living, you have a family (mother, father, brothers and sisters, and other relatives; or even none of them!) and people around you. The people around you introduce you to many life principles, and in doing so you also get to choose what you prefer and may end up “editing” what you have learnt from the rest to make it suit you for the better or worse depending on how society views it all. But well, guess what? Everyone always has an opinion, whether original or not; and our opinions about several aspects of life are characteristically varied and this determines a lot the things we do and how we live our lives.

Take happiness for instance, ultimately everyone aims to be happy in their lives but how does one achieve happiness? Or what is the true definition of happiness? Well, these are questions everyone answers differently. We all take different routes to achieve happiness in our day to day endeavours. Before we get into the details of what really makes us happy, I would like to make a few pointers about the life that we are living today and what it means. Our life begins when we are born and ends when we die, and no one can cheat death and that it happens at any time of our lives without warning. It’s also important to understand that things happen in our lives and once some have happened cannot be reversed. This aspect of life means that once something has happened, we cannot do anything about it. It also further means that our reactions to what has happened should ONLY be focused to moving forward since we can’t change the event. Most times people spend so much time lamenting and crying over what has happened or the past and this affects their present. Let’s take an example of someone who is carrying a glass of milk to have breakfast, and on the way they knock something and spill the milk plus breaking the glass. Crying over the spilt milk won’t bring it back or the broken glass, instead focusing on how to get new breakfast is the only way to move forward and of course learning how to avoid knocking over anything else on your way. The difference it makes is that, the person who spends lots of time focusing on the irreversible occurrence will not immediately seek a way forward.

Most people will tag the words “it’s okay” to my personality because I often apply it to all situations of my life. I apply it to the so many occurrences in my relationships with others especially in scenarios where they feel they have erred. I too always apply the same approach to my personal life situations, it helps me worry less about the things I cannot change in my life and concentrate on the things that I can change often.

So, what does it take to be happy? Am sure we all differ in that regard generally but the basics are the same. We become happier when we learn to appreciate the little things and ignore most of that which bothers us.

I have no doubt that by now you have a quick look at life that promises that you will be happy irrespective of the circumstances. The idea is to keep positive in face of any negative situation, emphasizing what still exists in your life. Try and see how far it takes you!