Happiness as a concept

During an exchange of pleasantries in a friendly chat with some of my friends, we unintentionally ventured into the abstract concept of happiness.

One of our friends was feeling down. In an attempt to cheer him up, we tried to convince him that his state of unhappiness was temporary and it would soon fade into oblivion leading him to become his jovial self again.
We stressed the fact that it is normal for one to experience the blues from time to time. None of us can claim experiencing happiness at all times.

After leaving my friends, on the way to my home, I went into a deep state of contemplation asking myself: Am I genuinely happy? Do people ask themselves the same question? How does one know if one is happy or not?
The majority of people do pose the previous questions to themselves at one point or another during the span of their lives. Of course, happiness means various things to different people.

For centuries, philosophers have been contemplating about what would make an individual experience the magical wonders of happiness. They attempted to unravel its secrets and the means to attain it.

Some social and mental experts believe that embracing life with its ups and downs could pave the route for one to experience happiness or at least to achieve contentment.
Others think that being complacent with one's financial and social statuses would facilitate rejoicing in emotional fulfillment and subsequently experiencing happiness.

Few individuals are convinced that attaining financial security increases their chances of being happy. They have acquired the false notion that money can't buy happiness yet it permits him or her the opportunity to have a good time. They misconstrue that contemporaneous pleasurable feeling as being happy.

New Age believers are adamant to state that physical well-being, mental stimulation, emotional fulfillment and spiritual evolution lead one into the path of happiness.
They argue that every individual has four aspects of his/her life, physical aspect, mental, emotional and spiritual states.

If one seeks to experience happiness, one must become physically healthy and all it entails, achieve mental stimulation through various venues of knowledge, attain emotional fulfillment and fulfill his or her spiritual needs that will lead to self-awareness and spiritual evolution.

Physical well-being is at the core of having any chances of being happy. One can't experience happiness while suffering from the agony of illness. Consequently, one must attempt to lead a healthy lifestyle by exercising
regularly, following a reasonably nutritious diet and avoid exhaustion and fatigue by getting enough sleep.

One ought to try to keep one's mind active through constant contemplation. Abundant resources are available through the various technological devices for those who wish the widen the horizons of their knowledge.

Mental stimulation could be achieved through reading various publications, watching educating programs on television or online and engaging in constructive discussions with friends or with acquaintances.

Having a loving family, loyal friends and decent neighbors would for certain lead to attaining emotional fulfillment.
Due to the hectic lifestyles that people are leading nowadays, they suffer from the lack of enough time to engage in social activities that would help them enlarge their circles of friends. Being active in the development of one's society may endear one to one's compatriots.

Being loved by those who share one's environment gears one to be emotionally fulfilled. To achieve that goal, one needs to be kind to others, offer help whenever one can and treat people with integrity and respect regardless of their social, religious or racial backgrounds.

Most people wish to evolve to become better individuals through spiritual evolution. Some people accomplish that task through religious venues while others improve their inner-selves by engaging in meditation exercises such as
yoga.

Regular self-evaluation is a positive step in the process of achieving spiritual evolution. Contribution to charities. Doing volunteer work and helping the needy and destitute all contribute to purifying one's soul and attaining spiritual evolution.

I do believe that healthy mind is crucial to leading healthy lifestyle. Physical well-being is needed to help others in one's attempt to be loved by those who share one's environment and subsequently achieve emotional fulfillment.

Someone who attained physical well-being, achieved mental stimulation and is emotionally fulfilled will focus on becoming spiritually evolved and subsequently experience authentic happiness.

As for me, I am genuinely happy to have the opportunity to share my views with you.

As for you, take your time to find out what would make you happy and exert every possible effort to create an environment in which you could experience heavenly happiness.