No More and No Less Than a State of Mind
“Happiness is a
state of mind” Walt Disney
Happiness or
unhappiness is no more and no less than a state of mind of an individual. It
may or may not involve the five senses, although they often play a pivotal role
in creating the happiness or unhappiness state of mind of an individual.
Remember, your
state of mind is always different from that of others; everyone’s state of mind
is uniquely different, just like the uniqueness of human fingerprints.
So, it is
important to know the difference between happiness and pleasure.
Happiness is a feeling of contentment, of personal conviction
that life is just as it should be; unhappiness is just the opposite feeling.
But how do you gauge your own level of contentment? And what
convinces you that your life is what it should be? Happiness or unhappiness, to
you, is only your own state of mind—uniquely yours and yours alone.
Pleasure is having fun at a party, the excitement of new
experiences, the thrill and passion of sex, or the delights of a fine meal.
They are all wonderful life experiences to be cherished and cultivated by any
individual, but they are only life pleasures, not human happiness.
The truth of the matter is that all our wonderful
life experiences are only to be enjoyed, and then to be let go of, just as
a delicious meal is to be enjoyed, savored, and then to be digested, and
ultimately eliminated from the body. Therefore, any life pleasure is fleeting
and must be so—if it is to continue to please again in the future.
Happiness,
on the other hand, may be less fleeting and more enduring than
pleasure; but, still, happiness never lasts forever because nothing in life is
permanent, and every thing remains only with that very moment, whether it is happiness
or pleasure.
Just remember this: Happiness and pleasure are life
experiences to be enjoyed, cherished, and remembered—but they do not last
forever.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© 2018 by Stephen Lau
No comments:
Post a Comment