If you are happy and you know it, show it…!

Don’t be afraid to be happy. Being happy is neither sinful nor is it a crime. And if you are happy, let the world know, how you are feeling! Nothing wrong with it.

Yesterday I was having a conversation with a young journalist on happiness. I told her that most people want to be happy. But they are afraid to be happy. The young lady wanted me to elaborate. I told her: “The reason is that in the throes of all your problems you feel guilty being happy. So, you postpone happiness, hoping to solve all your problems in the meantime. But that’s not going to happen. You are never going to get to a problem-free state. So, the best way to live is to be happy despite your circumstances – whatever they may be.”

Happiness is not partying. Or shopping. Or drinking. Or eating. It is not about indulging yourself. It is about immersing yourself in the present moment, living every bit of it wholesomely. It is an inner feeling. And it is about being in the now and expressing yourself through it.

Ayyappan - The "Happy-Tree" Man
and the trees he has planted recently to
"celebrate the goodness in his organization"

I have known this gentleman Ayyappan who works for an NGO in Kanchipuram for some time now. He too has, like most of us, faced a lot of challenges in his Life. And through all of them he has learnt the art of being happy. He feels his happiness is about being true to himself. So, simply, he never does anything that makes him unhappy. Working in an NGO, he believes, gives him immense joy and inner peace. The act of serving, he says, helps him tame his desire to seek deservance. He also has a very interesting method, a way, by which he demonstrates his happiness. “Whenever some good happens around me, in my family or neighborhood or at work or in our country or in the world, I plant a tree. I want the tree to spread the energy and message of everlasting happiness,” explains Ayyappan, who has already been practising this ‘method’ for many years now.

  

I think it is a beautiful way of not just paying back, but also of reviewing how happy you have been – the more trees you can count, over time, means that’s how happy your Life has been. Besides, the trees will outlive you and keep contributing to make the world a much better than what it is now.

Ayyappan’s philosophy and method are both inspirational and practical. You don’t have to plant a tree if it’s not your ‘thing’ – you can feed someone, you can give someone a hug, you can educate a child or you can do whatever gives you joy! The nub is this: let’s not postpone or hide our happiness. Let’s dare to be happy and let’s show it.