Happiness Costs Happiness

"Put me through hell and I'll still be smiling. I have many friends out there."

This is an old saying but an answer to something much more. Have we ever wondered that our mind is in compulsive search for infinite joy but our bodies (five senses) have limited capacities to actually enjoy it? Say we want to eat some special flavour ice-cream near our home. We manage to get there and have two-three scoops of it. Feels extremely good as I have it for the first time, well the second time, still good third time but well before the end, the mind goes somewhere else. This was simple. Let us make it a little more complicated. Think about switching a job or taking a job with higher pay but without job fulfilment because of societal status? Or perhaps leaving your loved ones to move for higher studies/job not knowing whether they be the same when you come back? Or taking a decision that involves an inner conflict where you are legally right but morally/ethically not so right? Most of the things that we do are for the sake of happiness but are we actually filled up with happiness when we get there? It is like an invisible state that eludes the moment we come closer to it because they all come at a price. That price is something that is already a valuable entity with us.

Consider the Soul Stone scene in the Avengers Infinity War or the Endgame. It demanded soul for a soul and the person had to give the soul closest to him. In former, Thanos sacrifices his daughter Gamora and in the latter, Black Widow sacrifices her own life. This is true in our lives also. Believe it or not, "Happiness costs Happiness". Sometimes the trade-off is necessary, and the price is less and it works. Sometimes it isn't. The most ironical part is that there is no right or wrong here? Sometimes we never know the threshold of trying something or giving it up? Consider the Civil Services or JEE aspirants who squander heir precious youthful years yet are unable to crack the exam. Or the constant climb in the corporate ladder only to lose our health and our identity and yet not getting it. Some sacrifice too much, and don't ever give up. Is giving upright in those situations? As I said, there is no right or wrong but very rightly mentioned in the book 'Vedanta- Voice of Freedom' by Swami Vivekananda; "Fortune is like a flirt. She cares not for him who wants her, but she is at the feet of him who does not care for her" or quoted by Ruskin Bond in his Little Book of Happiness, "Happiness is as exclusive as a butterfly, and you must never pursue it. If you stay very still, it may come and settle on your hand. But only briefly. Savour those moments, for they will not come in your way very often".

So, I guess, in the end, the choice is very simple. Either we begin that infinite journey towards joy or we give ourselves times to simply look within…