What is happiness? Does happiness come after living in high society? Or number of materialistic goods are the index of happiness? Or if you are living in bigger city then you will be happier than person living in village? I think happiness is not something you experience, it’s something you remember. Happiness is a feeling of contentment that life is just as it should be. In this world, there are around 84 lakh variety of organisms. The only human in all organisms earns money. How strange is that no animal ever dies of hunger and human stomach never fills! He keeps running behind money thinking that he can buy happiness at later point.
I remember those days, in school it was taught to us that poor lives in village. One day, I got a chance to visit my own ancestral place. I visited some of our old relative. What I found was just opposite of it. They own acres of land but we own flat of 1000 sq ft area. They have plenty amount of vegetables and fruits but we buy them just like peanuts from shopping mall. They have four pets and we have single pet. They have full river to swim and we have small swimming pool with chemical water. They have full village as their family but we have around 5 members in our family and we hardly know our neighbors. They have full greenery as their air conditioner but we have small AC which works with electricity. They don’t need water purifier but we are not getting purified water even after having purifier. They breath clean air but we breath polluted air. They have lot of gardens and we hardly have any. Finally, I realized that the poor live in city but not in village.
Sometime I think, whatever we are taught or see in the world is completely myth. Since childhood we are told, “Life is a race, you have to run and win”. But could not understand what kind of race it is. A race of money or a race of success or a race of power or a race of happiness? What if we get money or success or power but not happiness? Now, people will say if you are rich then it means you are successful & it means you are happy. With this logic, Bhutan should not be counted among happiest country. But study says that Gross Happiness Index of Bhutan is much higher than other country and Qatar which is richest country in the world, is not the happiest country. Happiness is a state of mind. having money or not having it is irrelevant to the point of happiness. Remember every happy person is successful in his life but not every successful is happy.
When a child is born, society starts teaching him how to become rich but nobody tells him how to become happier in his life. So just after 2-3 years of his birth he is pushed to this life race and he does not know where he is going. He follows what he is asked to. He starts finding happiness in money. I remember when I was 10-year-old, my father used to give me 20/- bucks as pocket-money. Initially, it brought me instant happiness. But after some month, It was just normal. It was not bringing happiness anymore. I asked my father to increase my pocket-money.
Dad: Why do you want more pocket-money?
Me: My friends are getting more pocket-money. I am not able to purchase KitKat which I like it. I can only buy kismi Bar.
Dad: But Initially, you were so happy. Don’t you?
Me: Yes, But I do not like those earlier chocolates anymore and KitKat is expensive.
Dad: How much more pocket-money you want?
Me: I said 50/ bucks.
Dad: OK. But I will not increase after that.
As soon as he said OK. I hugged him and started dancing thinking now I would be getting same happiness as of my other friends who were getting more pocket-money. Later after few months again life had become normal. I met with my new friends who were getting more pocket-money than me. Now, I was not getting my happiness with 50/- bucks anymore. I asked my dad again and same conversation began now.
Dad: Why do you want more pocket-money? I already increased it just 6 month before.
Me: I made my new friends. Now I am not able to go with them since I don’t have enough money.
Dad: But 6 month before, you asked only 50/- bucks. You hugged me as well. I thought you were satisfied.
Me: Yes, but my friends are enjoying more but I am not.
Dad: How much more pocket-money you want?
Me: I said 70/- bucks.
Dad: Ok. But again, he said I will not increase after that.
Since I am a single son of my parents, they kept on fulfilling my wish. Every few months later, I used to have similar arguments. With my arguments, they kept on increasing my pocket-money to some extent. I learned one thing from it, humans are more adaptable to condition. Money can increase sudden happiness but not permanent happiness. Same is happening with our jobs too. I think it was not the problem with our childhood or adulthood. It was the problem with our learning which made us to seek happiness in money and comparing with others. We still think at some point we will not feel for more money and will find real happiness. But it is never-ending process.
Sometime I think, money is worst creation of mankind. Root cause of majority of our problem is money. We have just made our life complicated with our own creation and become prisoner of it. Sometime people says, we earn money to fulfill our dreams. But in true sense, 70% our dream requires passion and commitment but not much money. Still In the blind life race, we forget our 70% dreams to full fill rest 30%. Are we up to it? I think No. Some gives argument about poor, how will they get happiness. I will say to them “If you are in tears, then yes money can buy happiness.” But not after that. Money is just like water. Everybody need water to survive. But having lot of water will not add any value. We may keep wasting it.
