There is no Why in happiness…
as the line goes in the movie Pursuit of Happyness.
Happiness is a state of well-being and contentment
There exists a whole multitude of things that can make us happy, some evanescent, some having a much deeper impact in one’s life.
Pursuit of Happiness – is the movies title. I find it a little absurd as one never pursues happiness, we all are in pursuit of our goal/aim but not happiness.
Happiness is an inevitable but still a fallout of us reaching the destination.
The quest for the goal is something more important than happiness.In the real sense, you don’t need to pursuit happiness for happiness’s sake. When we learn to appreciate the banal things in life, we will be happy all through.
A cold breeze hitting my face from the bus window, this is an inexplicable feeling. The sweet chikki jelly running down my throat, isn’t that awesome… It is not what was intended but still you feel happy(because I made it)…
leaving Happiness aside, how do we define calmness ?? in the sense do things that make you calm make you happy ? This is something like triangles- similarity and congruency, isnt it ?
June 11, 2007 at 10:13 am
Actually I feel absurd that one would pursue happiness. Happiness (and so is calmness as a matter of fact) is a state of mind. Be it chasing your dreams/aims/goals or just lazing around, happiness can be found in anything you do. Confusion (or is it maturity???) mostly lies in differentiating between satisfaction, happiness and contentment. Savoring something you love would perhaps give you satisfaction, cool breeze would make you content. But what really makes you happy?
Sometimes I feel a jobless person found all these words to describe just one feeling. I have heard that Eskimos have 72 different names for Snow. Isn’t it in human nature to give too many names to a thing which is in abundance around us? Or is it because for Eskimos ice is so precious (and its the only constant in their life) that they call it with so many names?
Happiness and calmness can’t really be compared as similar and congruent. Logically, if one is not angry or agitated, then the person is calm. Does that mean the person is happy? Kind of either this or that pattern isn’t it?
But then again, happiness is a perspective. Whats happiness to Will Smith is just survival for me. Whats survival for me is luxury for someone else.
(So sorry…took too much of your blog space.)
June 11, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Am not very comfortable with the idea of – calmness brings happiness. I opine that calmness rests your mind and enables you to get a clear vision of anything that is running inside – may it be a happy thought or a sad one. May be we can say: calmness makes you think, thinking makes you realize, realization makes you happy
June 11, 2007 at 11:10 pm
I don’t agree with you on this topic and also on the following lines “The quest for the goal is something more important than happiness.”
to me happiness comes from all activities which are close to my heart. And also, contentment is not a synonym for laziness. So happiness depends on what kind of goal you are chasing. I would say chasing the thing you wanted most in life is the real happiness.
may be if the line was “The quest for the goal is something more important than temporary comfort.”, I would have agreed.
anyways, I am yet to watch the movie :p
June 14, 2007 at 3:21 am
@spookie :
any amount of space you want feel free
@ashwin:
Exactly that’s why I said like triangles, congruent triangles are similar, similar triangles need not be congruent
@tk :
watch the movie
perceptions differ