I used to believe that happiness is a choice. Obviously this did not go down well with others who felt that one has no control over emotions. People believe that circumstances influence their emotions heavily. Let us consider the various examples first. Imagine a scenario, where a boy and a girl are deeply, madly in love. They have their fights, but they forget everything else when they are in each other’s arms. Circumstances somehow force them to part ways and it takes a toll on both of them. The abrupt departure of the significant other forces each to slump into a depressed state where all happiness seems absent. Now, let us imagine another scenario, where a student loses her most revered teacher to the inevitability of death and she still finds it difficult to come to terms with the loss of her idol after quite a while. Situations like these make us feel helpless. We feel as if all hope is lost from the world ( there is a story behind hope, but I shall save it for another day). During times like these, we get carried away by the very first emotion that strikes us – grief. I believe it’s all a matter of perspective.
Helen Keller once famously remarked – ” When one door of happiness closes, another opens. But sometimes, it takes us too long to find it “. What others see as a breakup, I see it as the start of something wonderful. A new journey into the unknown and with the possession of some enchanting memories created with one another, and happiness, knowing that while it lasted, it was true and at times, magical ( of course, there are many who would opt for curses and revenge ). And in the second example, while most see it as a heart-breaking moment, I see it as a proud moment for the teacher, that she ( I am going to assume both are female ), as long as she was alive, was true to herself and made an impact on so many lives, and that she would start her journey into the afterlife with countless blessings and prayers for her soul. I am sure, seeing the tears of her students, her soul would be smiling at the love showered on her.
So, you see, its how one chooses to perceive a situation that matters. There are times which call for us to be happy, there are times which call for us to be sad and there are times which call for us to be angry. If we can somehow manage to get our thoughts away from the very first emotion that strikes us during any situation, we can manage to chose our own emotions.
But we cannot always be happy. Trying to be happy all the time, we elect not to let our other emotions appear and we suppress it. This is dangerous. For there comes a time in life, when all the suppressed emotions, hidden and locked away deep in the heart, break free, and when this happens, we lose all control, and it causes unbearable pain. We do not know what to think, and for a brief period of time, we are vulnerable to executing regrettable decisions. Everyone is so bent on finding happiness in whatever they do, that they fail to see that other emotions are equally important, and ultimately, they fail to find happiness as well. No one can be completely happy forever. People are happy at times, people are sad. People are afraid at times, people are mad. Life is a roller coaster of emotions. We have to let the emotions out when and as they occur to us. We can never control our emotions. Any attempt at its control, has disastrous results. But at the same time, we must not let our emotions control us either. So we should just strive to live a life, which when we reflect back upon during our last breaths, brings a content and satisfied smile on our faces.