We make several choices each day. We choose to get up and go for a walk or go to the gym; we choose to go to the office, work on a project, and set deadlines for subordinates. As students, we choose the college we want to attend, the subjects we want to study, and the job we want to apply for. As adults, we make choices about a life partner, whether to have kids, how to bring them up and so on. We also make choices about socialisation, how much, with whom, and in what form. We make many more choices in our daily lives, such as what clothes to wear, which car to drive, where to go for vacations and so on.
How do we make all these choices? Of course, we wanna be happy. We choose what makes us happy. We choose to order a pizza that satisfies our taste; we go to Europe for vacations that make us feel happy; we buy branded clothes that make us happy. What if this happiness is just a myth? Had it not been so, why would the rich people fall into depression? Why would powerful people feel so stressed about retaining that power? Why would people with happy family lives feel so empty?
Happiness, as this world understands it, is just having more and more choices. A person who can afford the most expensive food, the most expensive vacations, and the most expensive flat should be happy. But isn't money quite addictive? Think of a drug addict or somebody addicted to alcohol. The more he drinks or takes drugs, the more addicted he becomes to that and the next time he needs a higher dose. If the drug addict feels happy because he has got a higher dose of the drugs today, how do we respond to that? Any sane person will say that he is laying the foundation of his own sorrow.
Isn't it the same with happiness in worldly terms? The more money and power we acquire, the more we get used to it. Next time we need a higher dose. We went to Europe last year, and this year we want to go somewhere else. Last time, we bought shirts from an Indian brand, and now we want to buy foreign brands. Is it making us happy? It's just a myth. Because we do not want to face reality. We just run after escape to escape. Unless we handle our fundamental fears of death, isolation, and being lonely, it's not possible for us to look at the futility of these escapes. Only when we face our inner fears do we connect to love and compassion. We can't stay inside the dark room and enjoy the sunlight. We have to dare to open the door, even though we've heard stories that there are ghosts outside. Once we open the door, we will encounter light, and we won't need to make up stories about happiness anymore. Our choices will then be guided by love and compassion, rather than by the desire to get the best lamp in the dark room.
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