Unconditional happiness
“What does happiness mean to you?” asked a friend on Facebook. Pat came the comments - family, friends, pets, career, home, music, books, hot chocolate.
I wasn’t surprised at the volley of answers. What surprised me was my inability to respond, especially because I have been on a conscious happiness journey over the past four years, maintaining a journal of whatever made me happy each day.
This journey has taught me that these are answers to the question, “What makes you happy?” They don’t mean happiness.
Happiness is what we are, the ethereal wholesome essence of our life, not a part or parts of it. It is this misconception that has seen to the rise in depression-related issues in recent times.
So what exactly is happiness? How can we convert these limited happy markers to a more sustainable happiness index?
I asked my husband what happiness meant to him. He pointed to me. I said I was not ever-lasting. I could die. He said it wouldn’t matter. He’s been making the best of our life together, savouring the moments and doing for me whatever best was possible for him given the circumstances.
He may not have been able to follow the societal rule book and he cared little for others’ opinions, including mine but his was a love to give me without expectation and he had no regrets whatsoever. And if he had to live a life without me, he would grieve for sure, yet find happiness in the memories we make.
I understood that while happiness was not the absence of sadness, making your days count, loving without expectation and living without regret, it also meant being the kind of person someone enjoyed making loving memories with.
Happiness is being me, the unconditional me.
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt June 16, 2018)
http://www.gulftoday.ae/portal/55a689bb-62a9-4bfe-97c9-b6c156d340f0.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
I wasn’t surprised at the volley of answers. What surprised me was my inability to respond, especially because I have been on a conscious happiness journey over the past four years, maintaining a journal of whatever made me happy each day.
This journey has taught me that these are answers to the question, “What makes you happy?” They don’t mean happiness.
Happiness is what we are, the ethereal wholesome essence of our life, not a part or parts of it. It is this misconception that has seen to the rise in depression-related issues in recent times.
So what exactly is happiness? How can we convert these limited happy markers to a more sustainable happiness index?
I asked my husband what happiness meant to him. He pointed to me. I said I was not ever-lasting. I could die. He said it wouldn’t matter. He’s been making the best of our life together, savouring the moments and doing for me whatever best was possible for him given the circumstances.
He may not have been able to follow the societal rule book and he cared little for others’ opinions, including mine but his was a love to give me without expectation and he had no regrets whatsoever. And if he had to live a life without me, he would grieve for sure, yet find happiness in the memories we make.
I understood that while happiness was not the absence of sadness, making your days count, loving without expectation and living without regret, it also meant being the kind of person someone enjoyed making loving memories with.
Happiness is being me, the unconditional me.
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt June 16, 2018)
http://www.gulftoday.ae/portal/55a689bb-62a9-4bfe-97c9-b6c156d340f0.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
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