Happiness

“Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light.” -Albus Dumbledore

Happiness is a strange emotion. One can find it in the smallest of things and yet, it is for happiness that people do the unthinkable.

Happiness is the innocent smile of a child when he sees his mother after coming back home from his first day at school, the feeling of pure triumph and accomplishment, the satisfaction that is derived from helping someone. At times, it can also be the reason for someone to commit a felony. For instance, in the movie Tara Rum Pum, the father having lost everything asked his best friend for a money to spend on his wife’s treatment. Whereas, he used it to throw his son a party on his birthday, just to see him happy after all they had been through. Yes, it was a lie, and he did betray those who trusted him, but then again that’s where the phrase ‘the end always justifies the means’ comes from. Some people, however, are unable to find happiness. They may have everything in the world, and yet happiness is the only thing they lack! They say “money can’t buy happiness” and that is true, indeed. We always compare ourselves to people that are economically forward but fail to see what kinds of problems may be hidden behind all those riches. ‘Happiness’ means different things to different people. To some happiness is just being surrounded by their loved ones, or giving back to society in the way of donation or that complete happiness you get from hearing the words, “you made my day” However, the reasons to be happy might not always be this positive. A trait found especially in competitive people is deriving happiness from another person’s failure. People who have very little, materialistically, are usually happier than people who have it all. I might have mentioned something earlier contradicting this, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. Whenever I pass by this street near my house, I see these people living under asbestos roofs and in houses that are barely holding together. Despite their living situation, I see kids running around and laughing, old women sitting out front and gossiping, men shouting and jeering at each other in friendly banter. It makes me wonder about my own life. From the outside it may look amazing, but no one really knows whether one is truly happy in life or not. But if I’m going to be frank then I must admit that there is an emptiness in me where happiness should be. It’s quite difficult to understand what happiness is really. It’s not the same as satisfaction or love or pride. They say white is a mixture of all the colours, well happiness is the white of emotions. It’s a mixture of every feeling a human can feel on extreme levels. Sometimes we’re in this constant search for happiness and can’t seem to find it. We don’t let go of things, we’re on a hunt to search for things we think we want, we try to accomplish goals, attain materialistic things, do unthinkable things just to attain happiness.  But we forget to look in the most important place, where happiness truly lies- in ourselves.  If you want to be happy, then all you need to do is learn to let go of things you desire, and start looking for things you truly need.

– Sabah Mehta 11A