How To Be Happy Anyway [Part Two]
The Problems of Money, Time, Health, Aging, Loneliness, Sickness, and Death
My deepest desire for you is to be happy, to be strong, passionate, joyous, and free!
Any conversation about happiness usually boils down to topics of money, health, aging, personal problems of all kinds, as well as subjects that include multitudes of ills and injustices, real and perceived, in one’s life and this world.
Money
Money has nothing to do with happiness—if you can grasp and accept this strange concept, you’re halfway there. The other half is in the following statement. You got to realize that you’re already rich. If you got your life, friends and family, your health, freedom—you got things no money can buy. So feel rich this way—rich in life, friends, joy, curiosity, and passion. You can feel rich in many things, like your understanding, knowledge, generosity, kindness, etc.
Time
Do not worry about time—the past, present, and future. The past is gone and exists only as memories in your head. If you mainly think of the past, you’ll miss the only real thing—this moment. We always spend all the time of our lives in the now, so make a point to be present in the now. The future is yet to come, it’s a mystery, and it is best kept this way, unvisited, for our peace of mind.
Health
Being healthy in your body, mind, and spirit are some of the most essential conditions for personal happiness. Health is an ever-changing condition, and because of that, we can work on improving it. There’re seemingly endless ways in which we can succeed in making our health better—nutrition and exercise, recreation, healing, and rejuvenation. Get busy and get creative because if you have your health—you will have all the reasons for happiness.
Aging
In many modern societies, aging is mainly viewed negatively. A healthy attitude would be the realization that aging gives us many incredible opportunities to become true masters and connoisseurs of what we pursue. Aging informs us of our limited time here and prompts us to seek meaningful goals. It is a privilege that few get. It presents us with an avenue for growth.
In reality, with good health, nothing is lost, and we can still enjoy everything we like doing with ever-growing zest, passion, and mastery. In life, certain things can only be achieved with time and experience only aging can provide, so embrace it and use it.
Loneliness
Some of the toughest conditions one must overcome and adapt to is loneliness. Everyone will experience some form of loneliness in life, be it the separation from the divine, absence of family, friends, a sense of community, belonging, or love.
To be happy, we must learn to use the time alone as an opportunity for growth and self-development—value it, befriend it, get comfortable being on your own, and indulge in being yourself. Make it a gift to yourself, and use it as a precious opportunity to get to know yourself better.
If you can not stand being lonely, give yourself to others, seek to make others happy, be helpful and easy to be with, project joy, and share time with others.
Sickness
All our ills are our body’s response to ignorance and stress. Having a human body is a constant learning and lifestyle adjusting experience. We must become specialists in listening and understanding our bodies' needs and must master self-care, healing, and adjustment to keep sickness at bay.
Spiritually, sickness is an opportunity to work with mind and spirit, to grow, and become stronger and wiser, which are some of the most important conditions for personal happiness.
Death
In most modern societies, death is a misunderstood and mismanaged subject. In situations where it should be used as the opportunity for enlightenment and growth, many in the end just succumb to the inevitability shrouded in mystery, tabu, and ignorance.
A much better way is to view the end of life as a passage, a bridge to the next chapter, a unique opportunity for transcendence and transformation. In many ancient cultures, death was viewed as a gateway to something bigger, an extraordinary reality, and ultimately more important than this one. This knowledge of our continuation as a unique spiritual entity would inform many choices we as people make in our day-to-day life and surely contribute to personal happiness.
Uncertainties, Doubts, and Faith
Belief in anything we can’t touch and see requires a degree of spiritual development, which takes faith and experience. Ignorance can manifest in many forms, and even the brightest minds make mistakes. Logic and knowledge are not enough to uncover the mysteries of this world, and an intelligent mind will show a strong propensity for intuition, spirituality, and faith.
Only time and practice, experience, and the continued search can actualize a solid foundation for an unbreakable connection between faith and belief. Traits like open-mindedness combined with curiosity, a sincere desire for improvement, and maybe a bit of luck (or karma) will connect one to a viable source of spirituality. And strong faith will make happiness an unshakeable reality.
May you always be happy.
