Joy, happiness, exuberance, or call it by any other name, the sound of laughter resonates all around us. On a leisurely stroll in a park, I saw a group of vociferous young boys outside the garden. There boisterous laughter caught my attention.
I assume they were enjoying the sight of some similar-aged pretty girls walking there. I chuckled to myself. Meantime my mind drifted to the discotheques of urban cities. Young vivacious friends dancing to the rocking beats. The entire atmosphere charged up with rollicking souls. My memory trail took a break and I returned back to the garden where I saw a little child dangling between his parents, holding their hands. The mother had a picnic basket and the child looked as merry as a cricket with his small ball. This reminded of another boy I had met, who had had sunny time, playing tennis with his father at Hyatt Regency. I have seen the romantic smile that lightens up the newly-wed village girl, who comes to watch the evening cinema with her husband to the nearby town. And similar romance envelops the cheek-by-jowl couple who ski in the Alps of Switzerland. It simply manifests that “happiness” has its dwelling equally in the Arcadian life and the hum drum of the metropolis. While I grew up in a humble town, I got exposed to the occidental culture tainting our cities. But one thing that was visible everywhere, were joyous people. Happiness is not bound by wealth, culture or social setting. Also, people have not been freed of their worries. In fact modern man has never been more strained and stressed than today.
The socialites and celebrities, whom we envy for their lavish lifestyle and prodigal wealth, have their own challenges to handle. A closer look into the razzmatazz will show that the loss of privacy, the paparazzi and the constant pressure of competitiveness are by no means trivial issues. While these people may see the plain life of an unknown man less stressful, they may not know of the financial crunches to which he succumbs frequently. But the important thing that stands out is that irrespective of our position in the social hierarchy, all of us find our reasons to smile. With the changes in our lifestyle, the sources and reasons of happiness may change, but its presence and effect will be permanent.
Coming to think of it, “Happiness” is such an amazing and a unique emotion. All the other emotions, be it love, kindness, sympathy, etc are associated with others. But happiness is one emotion you feel for yourself. You love “somebody”, you feel kind to “others” but you can simple be “happy” by “YOURSELF”. It’s a marvelous feeling. All of us do not find the love of our life or feel generous and charitable but each one of us has surely felt perked up at some point or other. It may not be a perennial spring of joy but I wouldn’t buy anybody who says, they haven’t had even the seasonal shower of happy rains. There are times when you smile by yourself and it is an elating experience.
REALISE YOUR DREAMS, THIS UNIVERSE BELONGS TO YOU
CREATE AND LIVE IN ABUNDANCE, THIS UNIVERSE BELONGS TO YOU
We are flawed humans, with our frailties of character. But whoever we may be, doing whatever good or bad, God has made us capable to feel happy. A prisoner in jail reacts to the news of his child’s birth with the exhilaration of any other free man. But there are some Schadenfreude and others who have callous and inhuman reasons like murder and rape to be happy. But we are not debating the reasons of happiness here; the underlying point is that even they experience happiness. It then leaves no mystery to understand that while God left all other emotions to be developed and felt by humans themselves, He wanted the feeling of Happiness to be omnipresent, not withstanding a man’s society, character or wealth.
When God created us so, it would be a shame if some of us still restrained ourselves from feeling chirruped. The crux can be summed in a simple rhyme:
“A smile on my face,
Can make a startling change.
It makes my face look beautiful,
And my heart feels great.”
And one thing that will never cease to make us happy, at all ages and at all levels, is a compliment from others specially the opposite sex. So keep smiling because you never know who may fall in love with your smile.
