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The Ancient Egyptians believed that upon their death
they would be asked by the god Osiris two questions
and their answers would determine whether they could
continue their journey in the afterlife.
The first question: "Did
you bring joy?"
The second question: "Did you find joy?"
In our sometimes never ending quest
for happiness I believe we lose sight of what it really
is. It is never constant, it is a choice, it is subjective,
it is a journey, it is so often the little things that
bring us joy. We need to understand that we create our
own happiness and most of it comes from within and the
choices we make. It was Leo Tolstoy who said: "If
you want to be happy, be."
In order for us to realise our happiness
we need to court ourselves every day by finding what
it is that gives us the pleasure and joy we want. Happiness
seldom comes from the big things, it comes most often
from the small things that add up and give us that sense
of well-being and inner warmth.
Happiness is a journey and recalling
the old Chinese proverb - a journey of a thousand miles
begins with a single step and that first step is your
choice. Ultimately it is the journey that matters not
so much the end.
Ed Diener, a psychologist, says that
in our individual pursuit for happiness we need to consider
what experts call SWB - 'subjective well-being'. In
other words what makes you happy is not necessarily
going to delight and enthral someone else. We need to
find our individual happiness 'triggers'.
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