Money, Wealth and Happiness was my initial consideration for the title of my e-program. Although, I settled for prosperity in place of happiness, I still consider the latter worthy of discussion. Happiness has been defined as a state of well-being that is characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to extreme joy. My best definition of happiness is: 1. Doing what you love 2. Having someone to love, and 3. Having something to look forward to The ability to do what you love seems to elude most people in todays workforce despite the fact that we spend more than a third of our waking moments at work. We all want, or need to make a good living to afford the necessities of life. But more important, we are our happiest when we do the things that we find interesting and challenging as our main occupation or profession. Most people are finding that continuing to do the things that they do not love just for the sake of the monetary reward makes them very miserable indeed. We all want to love and be loved by others, to have a happy harmonious home life and be respected by the people closest to us. The happiest moments of our personal lives are those we often share with others. Births, birthdays, confirmations, graduations, weddings, anniversaries and even Christmas are all the culmination of personal goals. We are our happiest when we have something to look forward to. Our biggest thrills in life come from realizing our dreams and goals, small and large. When we have nothing to anticipate in our future, a void exists that creates a sense of unease that is contrary to the feeling of happiness. That is why having a purpose is so important to life. Different people will have different ideas about the best ways of achieving happiness. A lot of people look towards wealth as the primary constituent of happiness, if not synonymous with it. However, wealth is only important to the point at which we reach a reasonable standard of living. Contrary to what most people think, happiness is not the acquisition of wealth. Once you reach the point where you have enough money to cover your necessities, earning more will not necessarily sustain happiness. We all need to have a reason to get up each morning, something to excite us, something to anticipate. The happiest person is the one who never reaches the end of the rainbow. Having a dream or a goal is actually far better than reaching its fulfilment. Think back to a time when you looked forward to something for a long time, yet when you finally attained it, you felt that it had not lived up to your expectations. One of lifes greatest pleasures is always being able to look forward to something special. The dream itself is what makes the journey enjoyable. To quote Kahlil Gibran, The significance of a man is not in what he attains, but rather in what he longs to attain. So give yourself permission to dream more and set more goals. As you realize your goals, set new goals and keep raising your sights for even greater heights. In the pursuit of happiness, remember to focus on the frequency of the instances that you can experience the emotion of happiness, rather than the intensity of the emotion at one particular time. Here are three things you can do to put these ideas into action. 1. Focus on doing more of the things that you enjoy doing 2. Nurture your relationships with the people closest to you, 3. Continually set small and large goals for yourself and work towards their achievement. Copyright Notice: Author: Margaret Ntifo, Wealth & Prosperity Coach. Further information visit: http://www.moneywealthandprosperity.com/ |
