“One great question underlies our experience, whether we think about it or not: what is the purpose of life? From the moment of birth every human being wants happiness and does not want suffering. Neither social conditioning nor education nor ideology affects this. From the very core of our being, we simply desire contentment. Therefore, it is important to discover what will bring about the greatest degree of happiness”
-Dalai Lama (Head of the Dge-lugs-pa order of Tibetan Buddhists, 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, b.1935)
At times we are so blind with the things that are happening in our lives that we forget. It is good to analyse one's place in life once in a while so we don't lose ourself. We are sometimes so caught up in trying to achieve what we think gives us happiness that we sacrifice so much that everything isn't worth it in the end. In a world of materialism, I would like to wake some people up and really reassess what they define as happiness. Think of the journey and not the final destination. With money people sacrifice time, with time people sacrifice money. With career we sacrifice family, and with family we sacrifice career. Hence life is all about balance.
Find it and you will find happiness, just remember that satisfaction is the key to happiness. Some find happiness in seeing those around them happy. This does not mean we shouldn't aim for greatness and just throw our dreams, or all material goods, away. If that is what makes you happy, by all means cling onto them. Everyone has their different definitions of happiness, but don't get lost. Stop and think once in a while... am I happy? By simply changing our thinking we can be even happier. I will do the same for my exam grades, I will learn to be satisfied with whatever I achieve because I know I have worked hard and in this journey I will have learnt more than answers to the exam papers, I will have hopefully learnt how to deal with pressure and stress, and learn to be content and not care so excessively as to what those around me think.
I hope some readers will have been influenced in some way by this post, I hope it has changed some part of your mind in some way. And I hope it has changed it for the better. We only have one life and to experience as many happy moments as possible is the most basic aim in all of us.
Louise XX
*Photos are taken by me, please ask before using otherwise that's stealing
