Be Happy!

I admire people with positive attitudes!
I think we all are capable of having it. It's in our hands to make or spoil a moment. It all depends upon our attitude. The glass is always half full if half empty!

Keeping an optimistic view when weighed down by hardships is the real test of people. It's a general concept that success is accompanied with happiness but I've come across people who have the ability to spoil even those moments. I remember one time I congratulated a friend on his promotion and instead of being happy, he snickered that what good that promotion was if the salary was only marginally increased? I was shocked by his reply and felt sorry for his attitude. He was spoiling a perfect opportunity of being happy.

This friend is not a sole example. There are many people in my life who simply refuse to be happy. It's not the lack of occasions but their attitude that's the root cause. I've observed this behavior more often in the Eastern cultures than in the West. The concept of "bad eye" breeds the intent to hide happiness which nourishes this attitude. People are wary of sharing their achievements and joys. The desire to avert jealousies gives rise to secrecy which in its turn brings in suspicion and mistrust. These concepts are universal but their magnitude is way smaller in the West because of personal freedoms.

People suspect ulterior motives if they see someone genuinely celebrating another person's happiness. I remember another time with another friend! Her friend's child had made remarkable achievement and although I had never met the person, I felt ecstatic for his personal success. My friend who was very close to that person scornfully told me, "You might know how to celebrate others' happiness but I don't!"


It's been years since she said those words to me but they stayed with me. Over the years I've seen her go through various degrees of sadness and depression with my own failed attempts to teach her that happiness is very easily attainable! It depends upon our own attitude and outlook. Life is a mix of disappointments and achievements. Maybe more of the former than the latter but we will never be out of joy if we learn to be happy for others. Imagine our world if we ALL learned and adopted this habit!