Happiness! Happiness is a dangerous addiction. The search for happiness is the force that defines our life. Happiness can lead us to our greatest passions, but also to our biggest illusions. This because happiness can’t be put in just one simple category. We don’t divide our entire life in black and white moments. The word happiness contains thousands of single meanings that determine every type of different “happy” moment. (well for example .. Lasagna! :D ) In different cultures, we often hear that the real way to happiness is the “ultimate freedom” from suffering. For Buddhists and Hindus it’s nirvana, the meaning of which is “a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self”. Transcendent means that it can’t be found in the life we’re living right now on mother earth.
Explained in a brutal, quick and dirty way, it means that we will never find true happiness, if we keep the awareness of what happens around us. I’ve considered this from different angles, but in IMHO it continues to resemble the way drug addicts see the world. “Hey Jim, I’m too lazy to clean the aquarium today, let’s pretend it doesn’t exist and blow one. And if the fish die they’ll be luckier in the next life” Buddhists literally use us the word “blowing out” to describe the state of nirvana…
But let’s just talk about the simpler forms of happiness that we can find in our own lives. The TV-landia wants us to believe that happiness is just three steps away! 1)recognize that your past is a really sad story 2)overcome it, by achieving popularity in every single way you can 3)be sexy! Through these simple steps you’ll surly reach, what TV-land interprets as happiness … Cash flow! For a clear illustration just watch any reality show. But the issue of money leading to happiness has surely been over-discussed. It’s a cliché that rich people, lose their ability to enjoy life in its fullness. In my opinion money only brings true happiness in matters of life and death. If earning money will help a poor African child from starvation, then one can say that money makes happiness. But when I see whats-her-name talking about, why she wants to win the competition to get her 1-million-contract with covergirl, with tears in her eyes, I just change the channel.
....What I can say about happiness, is that it’s a precious gift, like life itself! ;)
