Life is full of ups and downs and everyone goes through emotional highs and lows. Ultimately, everyone should be striving to achieve happiness in their lives. Why do we pursue happiness? Simple. It is in our human nature to do so. On the hierarchy of goals, happiness is the highest goal - "it is the end toward which all other ends lead". Trying to achieve wealth, fame, admiration, and any other goals are all placed below happiness - these are means toward one end: happiness. Happiness is a little bit harder than you think to define because it varies from individual to individual. Albert Camus said "You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life." Live your life and happiness will find you.
Fun fact: the word happiness is derived from an Icelandic word happ which means luck or chance. If you think of it, happiness is somewhat based on luck or chance - thinking you will be happy by achieving a result depends on how you perform (you have a chance to do well or do poorly, but you can boost your chances by practicing and working).
This is probably my favourite song right now and this video is sooo trippy. I just love anything that deals with pursuing happiness because everyone needs to strive for that. I just like the fact that Cudi says that he's striving to achieve happiness and knows that once it comes, everything will be alright.
The message I get from this song is pretty clear. Each day is a brand new day and you are free to go out and seek your own happiness. Being nice to people makes others happy and this can, in turn, make you happy. Knowing that people love you and are there for you makes it much easier to achieve happiness and when you're happy, there is no need to frown.
The following site lists 21 traits of happy people. Happy people appreciate life, surround themselves with happy, positive people, accept people for who they are, do what they love, are self-confident, have the ability to forgive, are optimistic, and enjoy life.
I am currently reading a book entitled "Happier" by Tal Ben-Shahar, a Harvard professor who teaches the most popular university course called Happiness. In the book, he aims to raise awareness of the general principles underlying a happy and fulfilled life. One important aspect he defines is the happiness-success relationship, in which, happiness is a means towards success, but at the same time, happiness is the ultimate end and consequently, success leads to happiness. He also talks about how for the most part, happy people tend to have better relationships, are more likely to do well at work, and also live better and longer. It is definitely a great read, but what makes it so great is that it's not just about reading. Ben-Shahar gets the reader to think deeper to reflect on their life and truly envision happiness.
I watched this video of a lecture by Matthieu Ricard, who is often termed as the "happiest man in the world", where he discusses the habits of happiness. He talks about how happiness is so hard to define and how to use your own experiences to feel happiness. It's 20 minutes but may be worth your time if you want to hear some philosophies on happiness.
One video that really altered the way I think and helped me when I was feeling a little bit depressed was "The Secret" which is also a best-selling book that was featured on Oprah. The Secret basically taught me something I already knew subconsciously but never really thought of and that is the "law of attraction". If you think of things you want and really focus on them, you can definitely achieve them. People have a tendency to think of things or situations that they do not want and that is exactly what they get. I've included the first 20 minutes of the movie (it's about an hour long) and it really helped me change the way I perceive life. If you get a chance to watch the entire thing, it really is worthwhile.
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