To define happiness is quite difficult for subjectivity. The face of a little baby declares it on getting a new toy and also on the face of an old parent on being loved and cared by their own children. Happiness, in general term, is all about the freedom of our choice. It is freedom to do things we like in our life. Again it is the, quest for knowing one’s self. In a word, ‘happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony’.
‘Men’, in the opinion of Rousseau ‘are born free but everywhere he is in chains’. Obviously, the limits to freedom are behind unhappiness of people. When a parent does not allow its child to go out and play in rain, the child is unhappy. But the parent is happy to restrict its child as it is sure of its positive result. People may become unhappy for the lack of actual knowledge in life. In this regard, happiness is relative as well as subjective.
A robber is happy as well as unhappy by the very act of stealing when he gains wealth and on the contrary he is caught and beaten black and blue, respectively. The consequences hardly usher happiness in people, some cases it depends on the act, while in the other in the consequences. In this context, the case of human bombs is worth mentionable. By the sacrifice of their life based on their belief, they find happiness as well as blind blessing that they sought.
Happiness is a matter of circumstances too. A gift on any occasion is certainly the sign and cause of happiness but not at all on the demise of a dear one. A woman in dire need always wishes to get a job in order to win over the hard time. Naturally, she will be happy only when she gets her wish fulfilled. She should be able to speak out her wishes for her family provided she is afraid of speaking out will be unhappy forever; or in situations when her family members are against the idea of her interest for a job. So the freedom is very important to be happy in life.
The government and other organisations have, at present, undertaken initiatives for promoting happiness as a sign of development. Bhutan has initiated the measure of Gross National Happiness as a step for the Development of happiness in its people. People have many unlimited and never ending wishes and it is impracticable to fulfil the wishes of human beings. Life is all about limiting the choices of our wishes and expectations. Some people fulfil many of their materialistic wishes: A nice palace, a costly and luxurious car of the latest fashion, latest costly and fashionable dresses, etc. while some fulfil find it difficult to meet their wishes mainly because of their financial or in some cases situations. Yet it is baseless to consider the rich people happier than the poor on the basis of their freedom to choose the materialistic things in life. Regarding the perfect definition of happiness, philosophers as well as thinkers differed in their interpretations. ‘Happiness lies’ in the opinion of Lord Buddha, ‘in achieving nirvana, in conquering the real self or getting rid of the flame of desire’. Gandhiji, Vivekananda, Sister Nivedita, Florence Nightingale, Mother Teresa and many other noble people discovered happiness in their service to the people as well as the nation.
Happiness exists in the heart of people and largely in their mood of accepting things irrespective of small, minute things in life or even in the admirable achievements. In this regard, the words of Helen Keller are worth mentionable: ‘The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched––they must be felt with the heart’.
Happiness appears differently to different people, but it largely depends on their choice in life of doing things that they want as the freedom of choice also paves the path to happiness.