happiness

Photo by Carolene

Happiness has always been a never ending issue. In the recent positivism era, many people believe that happines is meant to be chosen instead of achieved, yet again, even international law constitutes the right for all people to pursue happiness. To my point of view, there are slight differences between happiness, excitement, security, and peacefulness.

Photo by Sam Hood

Excitement is an overwhelming feeling which comes out only in particular situations diverse in personalities yet be common in the environment. A situation when your dream touches the realm of reality. When you do things voluntarily which such things are in accordance with your passion. When you get what you have expected or when you unexpectedly get what you would like to have. When you receive hope. When you fall in love. The situation usually can be indicated when there is something (people think it’s a butterfly) growling in your stomach or when something is heating in your chest (from that imaginary organ called ‘heart’). I’m not quiet sure whether there has been a scientific research regarding those symptoms.  Yet anyhow, this excitement feeling lasts not long and is easily disrupted. It usually ends even before its cause does.

To get what you need instead of what you want is the main difference between excitement and security. Security lasts longer than excitement and it is a major synonym of these feelings: safe, comfortable, warm, and unchallenged. For what I have learnt, insomnia is mainly caused by the insecurity.

Photo by Alfredo11

Peacefulness is a spiritual phase. Peacefulness is usually granted post reveries, meditations, prayers, and the ability to be grateful or to surrender. Peacefulness thus is very well related to religious  acts. However, it doesn’t mean an atheist cannot get a peaceful spirit. In a lot of cases, love is a religion. Peacefulness is really hard to describe as it can only be personally felt, not shared. However, many seem to have pictured it as being floating on still water and there is nothing else in the world but the empty sky above. Because of that, peacefulness is very very close to hollowness.

Photo by Sosij

     
Happiness. It’s....

I don’t know. When I feel excited, I’m happy. When I feel secure, I’m happy. When I can maintain peacefulness inside, I’m happy. Sometimes I can’t tell which feeling I’m experiencing. Often I don’t feel excited but I’m happy. I feel insecure and challenged but I’m happy. I feel troubled but I can manage to be happy.

Meanwhile, whereas I feel sad, I’m not happy. Whereas I’m happy, I’m not sad.

Photo by Gianluca Di Santo

If we can’t measure what happiness is related to,  let’s just simply say that as long as we’re not sad, we’re happy. Personally, I’d rather focus in accepting the negative situation I’m having instead of struggling to run away from it and finding someone or something to blame. You can only rise from your negative situation when you have managed to accept it and have fully gained control over it.

The secret of being happy is not trying to be happy, but trying to be not sad instead.

Disclaimer: I do not own the photos, you can find the photos in this site. I do not own the truth of happiness and so on, God does.