In pursuit of HAPPINESS...

Many a times this question bothers a lot of us that what REALLY makes us HAPPY.

Is the city that we live in or the food that we like or the friends that we make or the job that we do or the loved ones that we have or many other things. But when we actually start getting happiness from a particular activity and we repeat it the quotient of joy keeps decreasing.

Yes my friends, its true, the boring economic law of DIMINISHING MARGINAL UTILITY(this sounds so boring!!) strikes back again and again and again. Repetition and monotonous activity plays a killjoy in everything you start deriving happiness from.

Hence we come back to the same question again "What makes me happy??"

I have been trying to understand myself and have discussed it with many people who I look upto like seniors at work place, shrinks, professional motivators, religious and spiritual gurus, parents etc. and what follows is a brief synopsis of that.

Happiness like life is a journey and not a destination. The day you achieve a complete state of happiness will be your END. Lemme not give a lot of GYAN(like some ppl have given me on this topic ;-D). But I can share a few things which makes me happy on a day to day basis. Small things which some of you might identify with and some which you wud find completely silly but at the end of it; it makes me SMILE.

• To see my wife's smiling face early in the morning or wen i come back home after a long day at work


• To read a nice inspiring sms from someone who does not interact with me daily


• Meeting friends over coffee and discussing stupid things and while discussing these things to divert to more STUPID topics


• To get short appreciation mails from clients


• To see my niece(she is just 14 yrs!!) discussing on mature topics like dowry, widow re-marraige etc. and wondering how kids grow up so soon


• To be actively involved in discussion related to gadgets and technology


• To help co-workers(who are not in my team) in designing and delivering campaigns on time


• Have late night outs with the BOYS


• To enjoy street food anytime all the time


• To surprise wife with small gifts or flowers(much cheaper option)


• To play with small kids in my building


• To go for walks in the evening after work


• A nice session of transcendental meditation


• To enjoy slapstick standup comics while channel surfing on the weekends

The list can go on and on but it teaches jus one lesson. Happiness is in smaller things rather than waiting and toiling for the ever ELUSIVE bigger(??) happiness. The success of recent blockbusters also prove this theory right. Characters like Rancho from 3 Idiots and Rezvan Khan from MNIK teach us to be happy and content in wat we have rather than running a blind rat race to achieve SUCCESS(this word has a different meaning for all of us) which unfortunely today is measured by us in terms of what brand of clothes/ watches/ shoes we wear, the cars we drive, the places where we eat, the place we live and the holidays we go for.

I too get swayed by all of the above and probably am a part of the race myself but these questions keep popping up in my mind and makes me look around for more things which can make me HAPPY.