What is your source of Happiness?
Posted on January 05, 2015 by Jovian Koh ACC CPCC, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
We continue to pursue another thing in hope to seek happiness, for that is how the manmade yardstick measures our Happiness.
Last night we chatted about Source of Happiness. In some part of the World where people lives intimately with the nature, relying on natural resources; their source of happiness comes directly from being with and appreciating the nature. They think and speak simple. We do not hear them say, ‘I am happy because I have X dollar of money/ a landed property with a garden/ a PHD qualification in Y area of expertise.’
When people from the concrete jungle look at those living in the open and sometimes dangerous terrain, they wonder how those people survive? They see the latter as ‘having nothing or very little’.
Switching over, that group of people see themselves as having abundance over the people caged in the city. They have the Sun, river and natural produces to thank for. They run freely with the animals and can survive in any condition. Somehow, they just figure out ways to cope (mentally and physically) as the weather change. On second thought, they may not even compare directly because Comparison is not part of their habit.
So what makes the difference? If you follow the analogy above, you can clearly see that both groups of people are actually going after the same thing: Abundance. The first group works hard to gain possession and quantify happiness. We want a lot more money because money can buy us resources; we want to own a big property because of the space for freer movement; we chase after paper qualification because the knowledge can help us cope better in some areas.
The second group acquires the abundance naturally from what are available and ‘Happy’ is embedded in them.
Perhaps people in the concrete jungle complicated things as we revolve. We quantify everything from tangibles to intangibles like Love and Happiness. There is always a yardstick around to (mis)lead us. Intellectual pointed out that measurement gives accuracy and Society labelled people to set norms and for easier accountability. There are some forms of conformity pressure because human beings by nature are social; we need to feel belonged. As culture is shaped and thickened, we stop questioning using our heart but constantly putting brain to work out ways towards conformity. It does not matter we still feel the hollowness after obtaining one thing after another. We continue to pursue another thing in hope to seek happiness, for that is how the manmade yardstick measures our Happiness.
The next time you find your brain is working too hard to get more tangible possession in return for happiness, place your hands over your heart and ask ‘Why’.
Jovian Koh, ACC, CPCC
