A KEY TO HAPPINESS

 

A KEY TO HAPPINESS

There is no universal definition of happiness. One of the best ones is described as “a state of contentment and well-being characterized by feelings of joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment.”

 

Contentment is rare. Most of the people feel that only a few of their desires find fulfillment. It is strange that there are many poor people who are happier than those who have a lot of wealth. What makes them so is their personal idea of happiness. It is, however, admitted by a large number of persons that desires go on multiplying and their non-gratification results in painful unhappiness.

 

Many poets, saints, sages, seers, and religious philosophers recommend simple living as a sure means of happy life. They cite the eternal phenomenon of empty-handedness of man both at the time of his birth and death. His  worldly possessions which sounded as providers of happiness to begin with turn out to be a source of heart-breaking despair. They have to be left back totally  in this very world where they were regularly amassed.  

 

The English satirical poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744) who is known for many aphorisms and pithy maxims said:

 

“Worth makes the man, and want of it the fellow.” By worth, he meant, his understanding of the eternal secret of happiness.   

 

In his “Ode On Solitude”, he mentions the happy life of a man who lives far from the madding crowd and holds a key to happiness.

 

This ode reads as follows:

 

“Happy the man, whose wish and care
  A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air,
  In his own ground.

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,
  Whose flocks supply him with attire,
Whose trees in summer yield him shade,
  In winter fire.

Blest! who can unconcern'dly find
  Hours, days, and years slide soft away,
In health of body, peace of mind,
  Quiet by day,

Sound sleep by night; study and ease
  Together mix'd; sweet recreation,
And innocence, which most does please,
  With meditation.

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
  Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
  Tell where I lie.

                                                            ********

G.R.Kanwal

22 March 2025