We all seek happiness but few, very few, indeed, get it. We
are unhappy partly because we desire much more than what we can hope to attain.
Our countless desires are hard to be satisfied. And that is what makes us so
sad in life.
The secret of happiness lies in the simplification of life.
Simple living encourages high thinking. It leads to contentment. Contentment
gives us inner wealth, the wealth of the mind and of the soul. A contented man
devotes himself to virtues like truth, beauty, love, goodness, kindness and
charity. By pursuing and inculcating these virtues, a man can feel true happiness.
I do not mean that for simplification of life, a man should
become an ascetic. The happiness f a Sadhu (saint) is of a negative kind. I want
positive kind of happiness. For this I must live in the midst of life and
faithfully carry out my responsibilities to my home and my country. But all
this should be done in the spirit of selfless service. A man, who wants to lead
a happy life, should also make others happy. In making others happy he will
taste real and lasting happiness. There is a kind of job in serving others with
virtuous motives, in sacrificing what one has for the good of others. An act of
goodness is in itself an act of happiness.
The secret of perfect happiness lies in renunciation. Wealth
may give us joy for a while and fame may provide us with fleeting excitement.
But they cannot give us permanent happiness. Kings have everything to make them
happy and yet they feel unhappy. It is because they so not practice
renunciation.
There is a sense of joy in doing one’s work honestly and
efficiently. A research-worker feels jy in research and journalist in writing.
In doing one’s duty sincerely, one feels peace of mind which is an important
essential of happiness.
It is only by cultivating spirit of renunciation, self-sacrifice,
contentment and sincere work that one can really be happy. The stings of
misfortune spare none but they will not cow such a person.
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