''The Pursuit of HappYness''

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

Dance as though no one is watching you.

Love as though you have never been hurt before.

Sing as though no one can hear you.

Live as though heaven is on earth.

                       - Alfred D'Souza

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I was speaking to my friend today and during our conversation, she told me that her one year old boy is getting very naughty these days and she cannot wait for him to go to school now. That just reminded me of what my grandfather told me during my recent visit to India. In his 80s when he has fulfilled all his responsibilities and he is just enjoying his time with his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, grandpa says that most of life is about WAITING - waiting to grow up, waiting to go to school, then college, waiting to get into employment, waiting to find love, waiting to have a family and then the whole circle repeats as you wait to watch your childrem grow, wait to watch them go to school…..wait, wait, wait and wait until you reach the final destination.

Grandpa also said that this wait is coupled with hopes for a better future. All through the journey of life we convince ourself that life would be better after every stage. For instance, when you are at school, you think college life is better. Enter college, you think work life is better. You start a job, you think life would be better after a promotion and this goes on and on. 

Despite the wait and hope, we always look back in life and recollect the past days of life fondly. All of us have some moments in life that we want to hold on to and never want to let go off . We are always in the pursuit of happiness. As described by Alfred D’souza, ''There is no way to happiness but happiness is the way. Happiness is a journey and not a destination and therefore we must treasure every moment we have’’.  Rightfully so, afterall, today is the future that we hoped would be a better one yesterday and today  will be the past that we would look back at some day in the future and cherish. In our pursuit of happiness we must understand that there is no better time to be happy than NOW.

Up And Down The Slide

Sliding off from a height means

You have something to climb back up !

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During my walk in the park today, I saw a group of children playing on the slide – sliding down zoom and then running towards the steps at the back of the slide to once again climb to the top and slide down. One particular little boy caught my attention. Every time he came sliding down from the top onto the ground, instead of going back to the top of the slide via the steps at the back of the slide, he would try and climb back up the slide itself. During this, a few times he slipped and fell down but that did not deter him from climbing. He tried and eventually succeeded. Every time he made it to the top, he was overjoyed! Words fail me to describe his happiness throughout.

The little boy’s downward journey along the slide was fast and scary. His upward journey was a struggle but he did not give up. With determination and courage he got there and it was rewarding.

Journey of life has ups and downs too. The downhill journey of life is scary and fast and sometimes tends to blindside us. The uphill journey of life is always a struggle but rewarding in the end. Whatever mountain we are climbing, whatever dreams we are building, we will always face barriers along the way. Whether it is a downhill journey or a  barrier during the uphill journey, failure should not knock us from our path. During tough times, we just need to take a minute to reflect on how uniquely our life experiences have prepared us to make it through both journeys – THE UPS AS WELL AS DOWNS OF LIFE and move on.