The Happiness Within

Let this blog begin with a question: What is real happiness? Does it lie in success, power, money, or fame? People often complain that they are not happy and that life is unfair to them. Yes, sometimes we all go through certain stages that break us. Life isn't easy for anyone, especially since we're often too small to accept the challenges life throws at us. It's a reality.  

We're in a game of hide and seek where we need to find the real hero, happiness. Where is that hero? Do we ever ask this question to ourselves? Recently, I listened to a speech in which the speaker mentioned their source of happiness. Actually, the hero lies within us. It's not about money, power, or fame; it's in gratitude, kindness, and love. It's easy to say this, but in real life, it's not that easy to find that hero in these beautiful things, since the world is so materialistic. We have to overcome many challenges to reach the stage where we find happiness within ourselves.  

Here, let me share an experience of mine. In December 2023, we went to Delhi as part of our college trip. It was a journey filled with bliss, curiosities, new experiences, and, moreover, a journey of realization. It was my first time visiting the northern part of India, where we met many new faces. Life is different for them. In the capital city of India, we saw two different faces of life: the luxurious one and the very ordinary one. In the busy schedules of our capital city, the luxurious part moves with the flow. Let's come to the latter part, the very ordinary face of Delhi, where we met quite different faces. Faces of gratitude, love, kindness, and innocence. As mentioned earlier, their life was very ordinary in our eyes, but they were happy. They never forgot to put on the best makeup on their faces. And what makeup is that? A smile, a very beautiful smile. In our eyes, they live a very pathetic life in the streets of Delhi without safe shelter, enough nutrition, or clothes. Despite all these hardships, they were laughing, playing and sharing their small quantity of food with their families. The scenario was an eye-opener for us. Tears filled our eyes by seeing their lives, but the amazing thing was that they were happy. Here the question arises again. Are they happy because they have enough money, food, power, and fame? These things are very far for them. They are happy because they find happiness in love, care, gratitude, simplicity, and kindness. They found the real hero in the hide and seek game, the happiness within themselves. If we understand this little but very relevant fact, we will definitely stay happy no matter what. So let’s stop searching for that hero and try to find that hero within ourselves. 

 Rajashree. V, Asst. Professor of Commerce, Al Shifa College of Arts and Science, Kizhattoor, Perinthalmanna