HAPPINESS

Was commuting to work the other day and while boarding a train I saw some street urchins sitting on the road side laughing and playing with not a care in the world. This simple act of theirs got me thinking .Is “happiness” just a state that we can choose to be? Can each and every one of us just for a change choose to be happy or choose to be in a happy state of mind?

Soon very accidentally I came across a passage written by the author Robert Louis Stevenson .This great Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer who lived around a century back (13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) had written some real pearls which are still very much applicable .I reproduce them here for you to read ……
How to be Happy

1. Make up your mind to be happy. Learn to find pleasure in simple things.

2. Make the best of your circumstances. No one has everything, and everyone has something of sorrow intermingled with gladness of life. The trick is to make the laughter outweigh the tears.

3. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Don’t think that somehow you should be protected from misfortune that befalls other people.

4. You can’t please everybody. Don’t let criticism worry you.

5. Don’t let your neighbor set your standards. Be yourself.

6. Do the things you enjoy doing but stay out of debt.

7. Never borrow trouble. Imaginary things are harder to bear than real ones.

8. Since hate poisons the soul, do not cherish jealousy, enmity, grudges. Avoid people who make you unhappy.

9. Have many interests. If you can’t travel, read about new places.

10. Don’t hold postmortems. Don’t spend your time brooding over sorrows or mistakes. Don’t be one who never gets over things.

11. Do what you can for those less fortunate than yourself.

12. Keep busy at something. A busy person never has time to be unhappy.