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
...
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.
Posts
I agree entirely.... Even a man who has great wealth, social recognition and many awards may still be shadowed by indescribable suffering deep in his heart. On the other hand, an elderly woman who is not fortunate financially, leading a simple life alone, may feel the sun of joy and happiness rising in her heart each day.
ReplyDeleteso at some point of time one has to be satisfied with what ever he has got or achieved then only he/she can be happy at that moment.
Happiness never waits at the end of the road.Learn to take it in tiny bites and relish it all along.Life is the journey and destination in itself.And live life,as if there is no tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteBut is it really waiting?Doesn't it go in the click of a hand, as if it was just yesterday?
so true. loved to reading it.i like the way you simply describe things in a very light mood. and says so many deep things inside the that thought.. read my blog on happiness i wud love it. cheers
ReplyDeleteWe all long for happiness. And when we achieve one, we run for another. It's just an unending cycle of wanting, dreaming and being happy(after the dream is fulfilled).
ReplyDeleteWe always hope for a better tomorrow, but less are times when we realize that our pasts are filled with happy memories only if we try to recollect them. Not to mention about the present, we think of the past and the future. No time for the present.
So, yes enjoy every moment of life. Live each moment thinking that there is no tomorrow. Try your best at present! NOW is the time for you to be HAPPY! :)
Hey, Hi
ReplyDeleteso truly said...live every moment to its fullest. Give every moment something to remember by...
There is one particular quote that i read long back, but is still etched to my mind. I would like to share it here...It goes soemthign like this,"One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure its worth watching." i dont know why, but i sure feel its true...
Regards,
The Silhouette...
p.s.- if nothing, these pearls of wisdom that you share sure would bring a smile during that flashback... :)
Waiting for something is more exciting than it is when the thing actually happens. In fact, it's the wait, the anxiety, the anticipation and our patience that totally make it worth it.
ReplyDeleteWe all are waiting and hoping for better every day. Life would be boring if we knew everything beforehand. Very nice post AH. :) Have you seen the movie your post takes its title from?
Pearls of wisdom from your Grandpa...and you said it so beautifully Always Happy' "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"
ReplyDeleteafter all "Life is all about Living" :)
wowow you becoming a philosopher now :) and grandpa said right .. we wait wait and wait to get there and when we get there we think of We want to be back .. thats how life is .. always something or the other
ReplyDeleteexcellent words :)
Bikram's
@AH- sorry i don't agree wit u on dis 1. "happiness" u r talkin abt is virtual.... it lasts 4 limited time. this is nt the real happiness. i m nt bein a jerk bt seriously tink abt it n v cn discuss it.....:)
ReplyDeleteThe old man is definitely a wise man. What he told is definitely and cent percent true.
ReplyDeleteWe always look forward with hope, but still look back reminiscing the good old days.
Cheers,
Blasphemous Aesthete
how rightly said...convey your GP a 'thanks' for sharing such a thought :)
ReplyDelete@Irfan: True, it is not about wealth or material aspects of life but it is about living each moment with happiness.
ReplyDelete@Dr Antony: That is correct. Happiness never waits at the end of the journey but we must take it along the journey. You are probably also right in saying that life is not all about waiting because we never stand still.Time flies by so quickly and we are all constantly running the race of life.
@Anu: Thank you. I read your write up on happiness as well as cheers. Liked both of them. I will re visit and leave my fedback for you. Thank you once again.
@Enigma: True. I read somewhere about how humans are never satisfied and are always after something. I think it was called Maslow's theory of motivation if I am not mistaken where Maslow expained that human beings' desire is never satisfied. there is always something unfulfiled that we are after.
And yes, I agree with you on that we are either looking back or thinking about the future without paying attention to the future.
@Silhouette: Hello. Thank you friend for sharing that quote. I agree. We must give every moment something to remember by. and :) for the comment with p.s. Thank you :)
ReplyDelete@Ajay: You said it better than I did. Thank you. yes, I have watched Pursuit of HappYness N number of times. It is one of my all time favourites and inspirational movie. Every time I watch it, I like it more.
@Poonam: Thank you dear.
@Bikram: :) :) I realised that I am becoming philosophical these days. Thank you for pointing that out. I shall write some lighhearted posts too. Thank you dost.
@Div: I am sorry that we dont agree on this one :( . The point I was trying to make was that we are always looking forward to something in life - a new job, a new house, a new career etc etc That is what I was referring to as the WAIT which is not at all a bad thing but in the process we are forgetting to enjoy what we currently have. Like DR Antony mentioned above, happiness never lies at the end of journey. It is always around us. Happiness lies in life's tiny things. if we dont see it, it becomes invisibe. Let me know if I have still not got your point. You are most welcome to express your view .
@Anshul: Thank you.
@Nu: What a pleasant surprise to see your comment!! Certainly I will.
A nice poignant post from you. Happiness as they say, lies in the past or the future and the present is spent reminiscing or waiting for it.
ReplyDeleteSo true..there is so much truth in what comes from experience....
ReplyDeleteRemain Always Happy.
@AH- u r findin happiness in rong tings......:)
ReplyDeleteBrilliant post! I don't want to spam your blog but I once did a post on this exact topic...lol...great minds think alike? ;)
ReplyDeleteA very sweet post... :) And your grandpa has said it very rightly.... We always end up searching for happiness either in the past or the future and sometimes in both... :)
ReplyDelete@Purba: Thank you
ReplyDelete@Alka:Thank you
@Div: I am sorry we still dont agree. I find happiness in small things around mee.
@Sunil: Thank you. I have now read your post 'STOP WAITING@. I Like it. Yes, yes, great minds do think alike.
@Tan: Thank you
Hello Nanak, Welcome to my blog. Thank you for your kind words. Much appreciated. Hope to hear more from you.
ReplyDelete