I was happy to read this article in Deccan Herald today.
Quest for happiness
By Khushwant Singh
Having lived a reasonably contented life, I was musing over what a person should strive for to achieve happiness. I drew up a list of a few essentials which I put forward for readers’ appraisal.
First and foremost is good health. Any ailment, however trivial, will deduct something from your happiness.
Second, a healthy bank balance. It need not run into crores but should be enough to provide for creature comforts and something to spare for recreations eg: eating out, going to the pictures, travel and holidays on the hills or by the sea. Shortage of money can be only demoralising. Living on credit or borrowing is demeaning and lowers one in one’s own eyes.
Third, a home of your own. Rented premises can never give you the snug feeling of a nest which is yours for keeps that a home provides: If it has garden space, all the better. Plant your own trees and flowers, see them grow and blossom, cultivate a sense of kinship with them.
Fourth, an understanding companion, be it your spouse or a friend. If there are too many misunderstandings they will rob you of your peace of mind. It is better to be divorced than to bickering all the time.
Fifth, lack of envy of those who have done better than you in life. Envy can be very corroding; avoid comparing yourself with others.
Sixth: do not allow people to descend on you for gup-shup. By the time you get rid of them, you will feel exhausted and poisoned by their gossip-mongering.
Seventh: Cultivate some hobbies which fulfil you: gardening, reading, writing, painting, playing or listening to music, going to clubs or parties to get free drinks or to meet celebrities is criminal waste of time.
Eighth: Every morning and evening devote 15 minutes to introspection. In the morning ten minutes should be spent in stilling the mind and five in listing things you have to do that day. In the evenings, five minutes to still the mind again and ten to go over what you had undertaken to do.
Nathaniel Cotton (1721-1788) summed up my views on the subject in one verse:
If solid happiness we prize,
Within our breast this jewel lies;
And they are fools who roam:
The world has nothing to
bestow;
From our own selves our joys must flow
And that dear hut, — our home.
Quest for happiness
By Khushwant Singh
Having lived a reasonably contented life, I was musing over what a person should strive for to achieve happiness. I drew up a list of a few essentials which I put forward for readers’ appraisal.
First and foremost is good health. Any ailment, however trivial, will deduct something from your happiness.
Second, a healthy bank balance. It need not run into crores but should be enough to provide for creature comforts and something to spare for recreations eg: eating out, going to the pictures, travel and holidays on the hills or by the sea. Shortage of money can be only demoralising. Living on credit or borrowing is demeaning and lowers one in one’s own eyes.
Third, a home of your own. Rented premises can never give you the snug feeling of a nest which is yours for keeps that a home provides: If it has garden space, all the better. Plant your own trees and flowers, see them grow and blossom, cultivate a sense of kinship with them.
Fourth, an understanding companion, be it your spouse or a friend. If there are too many misunderstandings they will rob you of your peace of mind. It is better to be divorced than to bickering all the time.
Fifth, lack of envy of those who have done better than you in life. Envy can be very corroding; avoid comparing yourself with others.
Sixth: do not allow people to descend on you for gup-shup. By the time you get rid of them, you will feel exhausted and poisoned by their gossip-mongering.
Seventh: Cultivate some hobbies which fulfil you: gardening, reading, writing, painting, playing or listening to music, going to clubs or parties to get free drinks or to meet celebrities is criminal waste of time.
Eighth: Every morning and evening devote 15 minutes to introspection. In the morning ten minutes should be spent in stilling the mind and five in listing things you have to do that day. In the evenings, five minutes to still the mind again and ten to go over what you had undertaken to do.
Nathaniel Cotton (1721-1788) summed up my views on the subject in one verse:
If solid happiness we prize,
Within our breast this jewel lies;
And they are fools who roam:
The world has nothing to
bestow;
From our own selves our joys must flow
And that dear hut, — our home.
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Say something about good bad and search. I shall write taking an idea from there.