Building Blocks For a Stronger Nation

Happiness

Happiness is an idea that we're all familiar with, but it's a word that can have many definitions for many people. One common mistake in our materialistic culture is to confuse gratification with happiness because they are very different in reality. The simplest way to put it is that gratification is a result of getting what you want while happiness is the result of getting what you need. If you think that you have everything you need yet you are still not happy then your problem is most likely psychological. You were born happy so if you find yourself unhappy as an adult or even as a young person it's better to view your unhappiness more as a mental illness rather than a problem with your external life. What we need is based on true values, but too often what we want is based on artificial values. If you're standing outside in the winter in just a t-shirt freezing your butt off then someone hands you a warm coat, you now have what you need. If you're standing outside in the winter in just a t-shirt freezing your butt off then someone hands you a warm coat, but the coat isn't a popular or stylish name brand, you may not want it. This is a perfect example of an artificial value. There are many examples of these types of misguided values in our culture. Our entire economic system is based on one of them.

It's good to be deep and emotionally intelligent, but sometimes it's better to be practical. For our purpose which is to be as useful to as many people as possible, let's first define a happy person by what they are not which might surprise a lot of people.
A happy person is not selfish. They are generous.
A happy person does not kill or harm others, except in situations of self-defense and even then it is a last resort.
A happy person does not live in fear. On the contrary, they welcome fear because they know facing their fears is the pathway to even greater happiness.
A happy person is not wasteful. Being efficient is a standard they strive to keep.
A happy person is not lazy or unmotivated. They have an abundance of energy even in old age.
A happy person is not close-minded. They welcome new ideas and are not threatened by those who are different from them.
A happy person does not anger easily. Little things, even big things, do not bother them. Their happiness is too important to them to squander on petty matters. They are able to stay the course and calmly get to the root of an issue without taking anything personal.
A happy person does not lie. When we lie, we are not being ourselves. Being honest is the practice of being ourselves and we cannot improve ourselves or our lives if we are not honest about how we feel or where we are at in our lives. The truth has a master plan for us. Lies only keep us from this.
A happy person does not destroy the planet or pollute the environment.
A happy person feels connected to nature and knows that this is were their life force comes from. Harming it would be like harming oneself.
A happy person does not try to divide or exploit others. They try to unite people. They want others to be as happy as they are because they know that happy people make the world a better place.

So how do we become happy? It's much simpler than you've probably been told. A common question many of us are asked when we are young is "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Thinking that we have to be anything other than ourselves causes us to believe that happiness is something outside of ourselves that only results from achievement or success. When actually, it is the other way around. Achievement and true success are a result of happiness. Believing that we have to be something other than ourselves suggests that we have to pick a career or vocation, but if we're convinced that if we pick wrong we might never be happy. This is not a healthy way to look at life or ourselves. Any over-achiever if they're being honest will admit that once a certain goal is reached, there is always another one waiting. They are never happy or satisfied. The secret is that we were born happy. In order to get back to this place, all we have to do is unlearn all the wrong and unhealthy ideas we were taught. This is your life. It's no one else's. Only you know yourself well enough to know when you're being honest with yourself. Honesty is the path back to happiness. Don't let this world define happiness for you especially a world behaving in all the ways happiness is not.