The Best Strategy in the Pursuit of Happiness
The pursuit of happiness is an age-old occupation; the human race has been at it since the beginning of time. However, even with the many years of experience in this “career,” we still have yet to discover the real road to undeniable joy. Happiness has been equated with so many things – fame, fortune, peace – but still no real definition has emerged. Happiness is still an abstract concept; one that cannot have a universal meaning. Here, the question lies; how can you find something that you do not understand?
In the pursuit of happiness, the best strategy that you can take is to first and foremost learn what happiness is for you. It can be a cornucopia of a lot of things- a good job, a happy family, enough savings, a debt-free life – but knowing which are the most important to you can help you immensely in realizing how you can be happy.
First, write down everything that you think you need in your pursuit of happiness. This list need not be an exact delineation of your plan on how to achieve joy; just random thoughts on what you think you need and what you think you want. You should also list down what you already have that are important to you.
Next, you need to organize the list into the material and the immaterial. Material includes houses, money – anything that is considered possession. Another part should include everything that you cannot touch such as respect, love, peace, etc. The last should include the people who trigger overwhelming emotions in you even if the emotions are contradictory.
In your list of things that can help you in the pursuit of happiness, you may (and should) include the things or non-things that you do not have yet. In looking at this list, you can actually gleam a little bit of prospect of what happiness is to you personally. Some people strike a balance among the three parts – possessions, people, and wants; others however would place more importance on one of the three.
Looking at your list, you should be able to see what it that you place most importance in is; if you see for instance that you are more involved with the people you surround yourself with, then you would likely achieve happiness by making these people happy. Their happiness is your happiness.
If, in the pursuit of happiness, you place more importance with achievements, then you most likely would find joy in succeeding. This could involve your career, the business that you want to put up, the things that you would like to possess.
Finally, if you place more importance on the dreams that you have yet achieved, then you may actually find more joy in fantasizing of a better life. Your pursuit of happiness can be dependent on the possibilities of a better life rather than actually having one.
Some people think that the pursuit of happiness is an endless quest; probably because we truly do not know when we are already happy. Know happiness when you see it; check out www.happyessence.com
