by Rosario Buenaflor

Created on: December 31, 2008   Last Updated: March 22, 2011

Our definition of happiness vary widely because the concept of happiness is very personal.  The communities and groups that we choose to belong to shape our views on happiness only to a certain extent.  At any rate, the pursuit of happiness gives us energy to take on challenges and it even gives us an avenue to discover ourselves more. 

Love, beauty, kindness are a few of the things that make us happy.  Secondarily, material things also make us happy.  Since, we don't and cannot have everything all at once, we try to get them a bit at a time.  Unfortunately, some of us unconsciously choose negative and pessimistic views.  For these people, waiting makes them very impatient and the rationale behind it is that, it’s not going to happen anyway’.  While others have a low self esteem that they don’t feel they are equally deserving of attaining happiness like their counterparts.  Still others, miss out of the joys of contentment because of their unreasonably high expectations of themselves and others.  Also, there are those who believe that only things that can be bought are valuable and therefore able to make them happy.  These are times when happiness seem elusive and unreachable.  However, happiness is always within us.  We just have to realize it and embrace it.  

We all have beliefs, such as religious, cultural, traditional, scientific and so forth.  These beliefs are structures we adhere to in life.  These beliefs guide the processes we choose in attaining and achieving happiness.  

In order for us to evaluate the effects of these beliefs, we have to recognize and substantiate them.  In general, a positive attitude will always make things seem lighter and easier to accomplish.  Beliefs directly affect reality and so if your outlook is positive, happiness is just a matter of self expression.  In other words, if you're truly happy, you know and you feel it.  

Happiness is within.  Happiness cannot be found outside of ourselves; it is not something we could work towards; neither is it something that can be made to happen in the future.  We cannot wait for something that is already there; such that we should not wait for others to make us happy, or to try to produce a predetermined outcome, to make us what we already are. Philosophically and practically, happiness is the means to an end; it is a journey as well as a destination. Why

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