Many people ask: has happiness found you?

I always ponder this question.

“Happiness” is often treated like a gift, that you have to wait patiently for, and one day it will come to you. Many people when probed what happiness means to them will cite factors like a stable job, a successful career, filial kids, a loving spouse…

It seems then that our happiness is not within our control but largely dependent on external factors. As long as we have fulfilled our neverending wishlist, we shall be happy. If one of these factors that we deem crucial to your happiness fall out of place, the fragile state of our happiness collapses as well.

No wonder many find happiness to be elusive.

But what if happiness is not something you inherit or even choose, but a highly personal state of mind that you learn to embody. Why can’t we train ourselves to just feel happy? Regardless of all external circumstances, why can’t we just generate pure joy simply because we can.

If you look at the list of things we desire in our lives, say having a nice house or a nice car, or even a successful career. If you keep asking yourself the reason why you seek these things, the underlying reason will always be: because it will make me happy. So if happiness is the endpoint of why you want all these things, why not take the shortcut and simply feel happy?

Perhaps our happy ever after isn’t an endpoint in the distant future but a state we can choose to switch on at will right here right now.