Monday, January 12, 2009

Key to Happiness is not "More", But Just "Enough"

The key to happiness is enough and not more. When we carry this feeling that what we have is enough, we feel adequate and complete and thus happy. When we feel that we need more, then we feel inadequate and incomplete and thus unhappy. Students are made to get more marks and better ranks. They cannot feel happy with what they have got. Employees want more salary and more responsibility and better positions. Thus they are unhappy with their current and salary. Wife wants more time, display of love and affection and participation in domestic affairs from the husband. Thus the husband never feels that he can ever fulfill the needs of the wife. The same is true the other way round.

We want to pack more things into the 24 hours we have. There are books which we have not read, movies not seen, channels not watched, friends not met, tasks not attended to, physical not taken up. We seem to have a perennial backlog in our to-do list. Companies want more and more - revenue, profit, growth, size. More flights cause jams at airports - 25% of flights are delayed. More cars and two wheelers on the roads lead to traffic jams.

Lets for a minute consider a different scenario where we feel enough. I have enough number of good friends around me. I am getting enough love and affection from those near and dear to me. I am getting enough respect, money and responsibility in my work place. People are putting in enough effort to the tasks assigned to them. The number of flights are enough and lets not have more of them in the airports. Whatever personal work and interests I pursue are enough given my time availability and capabilities. The marks which the child gets is enough as he has done his best. The current levels of growth of the company are enough and let us not push for more for some more time. The current level of speed at which things are enough.

I am sure the latter will ensure calmness in us. There will be peace. We will relish what we do. We will be in the present and the present moments will be sheer joy. Relationships with our friends, family and colleagues will seem a lot more pleasant. Our respect for and self esteem will get a boost.

The same world will seem a lot more blissful. Maybe we will see smiles on our faces more than ever. Enough will lead to more happiness.

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