Be Happy For No Reason

“If I get a promotion, it’s an achievement. When I get this achievement, I will be happy.”

“I always wanted to own that car. When I buy that car, I will feel good.”

“I have not achieved anything substantial in the last two years. I don’t feel good. If I achieve some good results, then I will feel better.”

“I want to get admission into this MS course at this Ivy League college. If I get the breakthrough, then I’ll be thrilled.”

“If I make Partner by the time I am 35, then I will feel like I am a success.”

All of us, at some time, live our lives stuck in an endless “If-Then” loop. We are doing things and hoping that the results that happen will make us feel good and happy.

Our positive feelings are always hostage to this “If-Then” paradigm. This thinking is futile and leads to no improvement in our state of well being. Why? Just think about what you wanted for yourself ten years back. You are likely enjoying today what you aspired for yourself a decade back. Are you any happier today than what you were a decade back? Very likely not !!

We are at our best in terms of productivity, creativity, efficiency and execution when we are feeling happy and good about ourselves.

If this is universally true, then why do we make our feeling of happiness a consequence of some “If-Then” outcome. Can we not find a way to feel happy all the time where we do things out of joy in the present moment instead of waiting for something to happen in order to be happy sometime in the future?

We are constantly trying to complicate our lives. We don’t need a reason to be happy. We just need to be happy.

Here’s to a Happy Weekend.