The secret to be happy .....

I took a stroll down the park...My eyes were as usual fill with water ... for a very long time i tried controlling my tears from drenching my cheeks. Deep in my heart, i felt as though happiness had finally left me for good. The problems that i am facing is sometimes very unbearable.My mind is slowly trying to find solutions to the problems that keep evolving. I look around me and i see similar sad faces occupying different spots of the park. I then ask myself isn't there a secret to be happy ?? ... As the question was being registered in my clouded mind .... an old man approaches me .... with a deep voice he utters "son why are you sad" .... i told him that he would not understand and walked away .... As i took two steps away ... he then uttered " just remember this ... it will answer many of your doubts .."

"You will always want a pair of slippers, until you meet a man without feet "

I stopped and turn behind ....... to my disbelieve the white clothed man was no where to be found. I quickly pinched myself to see if i was dreaming .....ouch .... i certainly was not ...... i also knew that i was not suffering from delusion ...... well at that moment my mind was going wild until my heart reminded me of the man's uttered words ..... i sat under a tree and analyze his words carefully.......

Well face it life only goes on so long we have desires. May it be having wealth , a great job status or marrying a beautiful wife ... we would continue striving until we achieve this so called dreams. We compare ourselves to people around us and create this unseen pressure that keeps pushing us towards our dreams. In order to avoid failure, we sometimes go to the extreme which causes the expectation of success to increase tremendously.At this point of time a single point of failure , would cause us to be heart broken for weeks.So now what ... don't have dreams ?? Well if you still didn't catch it, the word "expectations" is what that is causing our unhappiness. Lets analyze further .......

Why does a wife gets upset with her husband...... cause she expects him to do something and he does something else ........ why does your boss get upset with you .......coz he expects you to do something and you do something else ...... why does your parents get upset with you, coz they expect you to do something and you do something else. See....told you, the expectation is causing the unhappiness. Fine.... now whats the link between contentment and expectation ??

Well simple, if you are contented you would expect less.Talking about contentment, this reminds me of a practice in the Hindu temples. In a Hindu temple, after prayers people are always served with food. Why food ? This is because, food has the fastest ability to make a person contented. A man can only eat his stomach full, and thus contentment is reached when he is full. When he is full, he feels happy :) ...

Hence before you start setting your goals .... to ensure that you will always be happy, first you got to learn to be contented with the things you have achieved and the people around you. Then build the goals over this strong base of contentment and set less expectations on everything.You will find that you are less pressured and have more control over your actions. This will guarantee you success ..... in the long run.

Happiness have never left you my friends, as it has never originated from our surroundings. The truth is happiness always lies within you, and you may choose to live with it or without it.

A great saint once said “There is no end of craving. Hence contentment alone is the best way to happiness. Therefore, acquire contentment.”

Expect Less ... Be Contented and Be Happy :)