Decoding Happiness: Stop worrying dude!

 - Pratik Badgujar

 5 minute read

Prologue

It does not take a genius to say that we all become happy and sad numerous times. For most of us, happiness giving moments are very few, and the remaining time is filled with frustration and boredom. We all want to be happy. We all do everything we do for the sole reason of becoming happy in life and yet we don't succeed a lot. What is this mystery? Why can't we live happily ever? Can we? In this series of articles, “Decoding Happiness” we will try to understand the reality of happiness. 

In this series of articles, we will shed some light on different aspects of happiness one by one. This is the second article of them. We recommend you read the first article also so that this article will make a better sense.

We want to make these articles a learning experience. We want you to freely communicate your thoughts on happiness and article with us. So, freely comment, give feedback, write an email, or contact us on Whatsapp. Rest assured we are not here to judge you from your comments at all. Let's Get started...

Stop worrying dude!

“The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.”

 - Claimed to be a quote by Einstein, 

A few years back I was traveling from Indore to Dewas in a bus. For those who don't know, Indore and Dewas are two towns 35 km apart, situated in central India. A lot of people travel daily between the two cities for work and for studies.

A discussion broke out between two fellow travelers. One said, see that beggar on the footpath, how lucky he is. He doesn’t have to worry about work or any targets. Nobody nags him for fulfilling expectations, as there are none. And here we are toiling every single day, to earn more, to learn more, and yet there is no guarantee that all this effort of ours will be fruitful.

The beggar doesn’t have any expectations. He knows that some days, he will get enough alms to buy food and on others, he won’t have that privilege. And yet he doesn’t care. He doesn’t strive, and perhaps never even think about striving. He is just lying there homeless, sometimes even foodless, without any expectations. Isn’t he happier than all of us? From one point of view, it definitely seems right. Or does it?

Very often we see others’ life and think that they are the ones enjoying life and that I am just stuck here, toiling, striving, crawling. However, this is an illusion.

Everybody has their own challenges. It is very easy, to judge other’s life with our assumptions and conclude that they are happier. In reality, everyone is living with their own set of challenges. We just either don’t know about them or conveniently ignore and focus on the part of their lives which we desire to have.

Most of the time, it is the monotony of routine that makes us feel that our life is worthless. No matter, how much one is earning, how influential one is, or how impactful one’s work can be, monotony i.e., absence of change makes everything appear useless. Break the monotony and you will soon gain your energy, enthusiasm back on track.

Here are a few off-the-mainstream, interesting ideas to break the monotony of life:

• Listen to music from a language you don’t understand. This may feel weird initially, however you need to bear on and focus on the music only. Fortunately, India has no shortage of languages and you can choose any of them, provided you aren't familiar with it.
• Once in awhile, travel aimlessly, just for the sake of traveling. Don’t have any plan, have nowhere to reach. Listen to the sound of the bus/train. The roaring of the engine, the change of tone when the driver changes gears, the periodic sound of rail tracks, your co-passengers discussing around you, and so on…
• Visit a bus station, railway station, and just sit in the waiting area observing passengers around you. Just see them. See wait on their face, their luggage, their preparation. And in the same place, you will find a street dog roaming around. That dog lives there day and night, it doesn’t have to go anywhere, anytime.
• If possible, play with a toddler. Watch how freely they do whatever it is they are doing. Laugh wholeheartedly and also cry as if the whole world has collapsed. How easily they can trust, how easily they get attached and enjoy fearlessly. Remember, we all were just like that once.
• Just sit somewhere aimlessly, just stare at that wide, open sky. Let that vastness sink in yourself.
• If you don’t know how to dance, go in a room, close door, windows, curtains, and every other peeping hole- and then- when no one is watching you- dance. Throw your hands, shake your head, tap your legs, twist your waist, or just whatever it feels like. Forget yourself, forget your status, composedness, and move freely. You don’t have to look elegant, or learned. You simply dance the way you like you to- fearlessly.
• Listen to music which was popular around your childhood years. Trust me this is one of the most effective stressbusters. The music will take you down memory lane, when you were free and careless, just like any other kid. If for some reason, your childhood was not the happiest, then listen to popular music from the best time you have lived.

You should always remember that nobody is here for a long time. Just a few decades and that’s it. Earth is estimated to be 4.5 billion years old. 4.5 billion, i.e., 4,500,000,000 years. Officially, as per the Guinness World Records, the longest person who has ever lived is Kane Tanaka from Japan, who lived for 117 years 268 days. 118/ 4500000000 = 0.000000026 or 0.0000026 %

0.0000026% is the maximum percent of the time a person has ever spend on earth. And if we compare this longest lifespan with the known age of the universe, which is 13.2 billion years, we realize how small is the time for which we exist.

We are here for a very short amount of time which we call life. Use this little time optimally. Enjoy the moments, be creative and contribute, actively search for happiness around you in daily routine and you will find that happiness will flow in your life incessantly. And the best part is that it doesn't cost anything at all.

Just live, enjoy, and be happy!!