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What is happiness and what are the ways and means to achieve happiness - Nilanjan Biswas

What is happiness:-

Essay Contest for UPSC Exam for IAS

There is no such definite definition of happiness. It is a relative phenomenon it may vary to person to person and situation to situation some time religion to religion also. Mathematically, Happiness = No. of Derives fulfilled/Total No. of Derives.

In Philosophy: - Happiness translates the Greek concept of eudemonia, and refers to the good life, or flourishing, rather than simply an emotion

In Psychology: - happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being which can be defined by, among others, positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Happy mental states may reflect judgments by a person about their overall well-being.

But happiness not means that:-

  • Feeling good all time.
  • Being rich or affording everything you want.
  • A final destination.

So the researcher suggests that happiness is a combination of how satisfied we are with our life and how good we feel on day to day basis. Both of these are relatively stable that is our life change and our mood fluctuates.

Way and mean to achieve happiness:-

However happiness is a mental or emotional state of well being and we all want to be happy. But how do we achieve it? Even if we don't have much happiness in our life, there are some step can take to increase our happiness:-

  1. Associate with happy people. Research has shown that happiness is contagious. That means that people are happier if they are around happy people. If you're always around misery (including on the job), it's a recipe for unhappiness.
  2. Smile a lot. Smiles are truly contagious. When you smile, you feel happier inside. It's hard not to! And when you smile a lot, people will respond to you more positively, which will make you feel better.
  3. Focus on the positives. It sounds simple but it's true. The old saying that you can look at a glass half full or half empty makes a lot of sense. So never forget the positives in your own life or how much worse you could have it.
  4. Do an act of kindness for someone else. If you do something nice for someone else, it is likely to make you feel happier about yourself. Getting outside of yourself is a great way to alleviate your own suffering
  5. Meditate. Meditation will provide a sense of calm and reflection into what can otherwise be an excessively busy life. Many people feel like they never have time to pause and be grateful. If you take that time, it's going to make your life more centered, and happiness will follow.
  6. Smell something you like. Don't forget all of the senses. The sense of smell can actually trigger good emotions and moods. So don't forget to smell.
  7. Find your passion. Do things you love and love what you do. Choose an occupation that moves you and that you enjoy. If you're stuck in an occupational rut, find a way to change your circumstances.
  8. Forgive. Letting go of anger - we all harbor some of it - can be extremely difficult to do. But if you hold onto old grievances, you're bound to only hurt yourself in the end.
  9. Exercise. There's no question about it. Exercise is good for more than your muscles. It's also going to release adrenaline into the body, which is a natural mood lifter.
  10. Change your situation. Make an honest assessment of your life. What's not making your happiness stronger? Are there things in your life that are negative patterns that you just keep repeating?
  11. Be centered in yourself. You need to have a strong idea of who you are and your own self worth to be happy. If you don't have those things, you need to work on them with a therapist or just by starting to recognize your own worth.
  12. Develop a support system. You will be happier if you are not isolated or alone. If you feel like you have isolated yourself, force yourself to reach out to others or at least to slowly build relationships, even casual ones. Connection leads to happiness.

Conclusion:-

During the past two decades the field of positive psychology has expanded drastically in terms of scientific publication and has produced many different views on cause of happiness and on factors that correlate with happiness.

Numerous short terms self help intervention have been developed and demonstrate to improve well being.

Last of all we allows try to remember that success doesn't cause happiness, happiness cause success and life is better all around when you are happy

-Nilanjan Biswas