The pursuit of happyness

Julian Hong

– December 13, 2009Posted in: Uncategorized

It has been a while since i last shared my thoughts. Indeed, with the hustle and bustle of a new school term, things start to get very busy.

I was just thinking about the show in the title of my post about how a homeless man (Chris Gardner) defies all odds to become a successful stockbroker. At first i thought his happiness was derived from his success financially, or through the sense of satisfaction of overcoming odds in life. However i thought otherwise..

Even as the festive season draws closer, i wonder in the midst of all this commercial cheer and yuletide joy, what truly constitutes happiness? For that matter what is happiness? Is it based on something transient? Is it a feeling of euphoria?

I realized that many factors affect our state of happiness, and most of the time its the state of our financial status. Its true that with money, the means to do more and enjoy the luxuries of life are increased. However, in the absence of this, is there something more we can define our happiness around?

Going Home – A Short Film on Dementia

Watching this video made me cherish and miss my surviving grandmothers alot. I came to a conclusion that my source of happiness is derived from spending time with a loved one and seeing the smile on their face through simple gestures.

Reflecting on the show i was talking about earlier, i realized that happiness to the main character was not only based around his financial ability to provide for his son after he became successful, but rather by being able to be with his son through the odds and ordeals he faced in life and with that, still see him smile.

This Christmas holidays, my pursuit of happiness will be in the form of spending quality time with my grandmothers, and hopefully see them smile. Will you join me in bringing a smile to someone this holidays?

About the Author

Julian is a student currently studying in the UK. At the age of 3, he came close to death due to a life threatening disease. Thankful for his second chance, Julian believes in making a positive difference with whatever he has been blessed with through various community opportunities both in Singapore and abroad. Someone who believes in the motto, "To heal sometimes, to relieve often but to comfort Always", he hope to share his musings and observations of daily life as a Singaporean student in the UK (:

TB

http://www.srichinmoylibrary.com/books/0988/1/12
TB

It is quite ironic to see that your post on 'happyness' only gotten 2 replies when happiness is what everyone is pursuing in life.

What is happiness? For some, it is building relationships with friends and family. For others, it is more self centred. While for others, it is sharing joy with the less fortunate. To each his own.

At some point of our lives, the subject of happiness will crop up.
Yet for most times, most of us do not quite know what the real answer is. Perhaps that is why your post only got 2 replies, most people don't really what is happiness after all. They will tell you, it is very subjective.

For me, happiness is when the whole world becomes peaceful. Happiness is when the whole world cares about our environment. Happiness is when the dark ignorant mind surrenders to the illumined heart. Happiness is when there is only kindness, love and goodness in humanity. How can that be? Yes, quite daunting, one may think. But think again, isn't that what happiness is all about? Isn't that what most people would like to see and live in? True honest happiness is when the humanity begin to pursue a better quality of life, not in terms of material advancement, but in terms of spiritual advancement. Material advancement, as we see in today's context, is all about the little 'me and mine'. Whereas spiritual advancement or development, is all about character building such as integrity, honesty and understanding that the physical world is not the only world. That there exist a spiritual dimension in life. Unless and until we recognize and acknowledge this fact, the face of happiness will be denied for a long time.
To understand what happiness is all about is to understand what is the true purpose of life. The true purpose of life is to manifest goodness on earth through spiritual development. Spirituality is not about ghost and spirits. Spirituality is about the perfection of humanity. Therefore, happiness is about the pursuit of perfection in humanity by our own example.

Julian's reply: Hi Tb, thank you for sharing your thoughts and now the official comment count is 3! Well i guess happiness is not something that many people can debate much about like politics or our government, but of course happiness is something all of us want. I do appreciate your viewpoints on it, did you see the video link i posted? Over the past few days i was really happy when i saw my grandmother smile :) I guess im thankful for the little things especially being away from Singapore the past 5 months. Seasons greetings to you this holidays!
Priscilla

well written post! hope that you'll have a wonderful christmas back home!!
Zizie

LOVELY post.

i love the feeling you get, when you offer your umbrella to a person stuck in the rain, or to greet a passing grandma or to say "thank you, take care aunty!" to the lady cleaning the toilets. just simple gestures to make a stranger smile. you should try it sometime, it's infectious! :D i mean, if you haven't already hahaha.

Julian's reply: Hi there Zizie, i absolutely agree with you! My heart goes out to the old folks who work tirelessly, guess this is the little something we can do to honour them and affirm them ( :

The pursuit of happyness

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