What's your happiness quotient?

The pursuit of happiness is so much easier to do than to find the fountain of youth. The former involves reality while the latter is a figment of imagination. The fountain of youth is no match to the happiness of an individual who will remain forever young, even at heart, because of his sheer joy.

So how do we gauge our happiness quotient?

I don’t have a rainproof measure to happiness but experience taught me that like Math, Science or Language aptitude, happiness is also a form of intelligence. It takes a mathematically gifted man to solve a blackboard-full of equations. But it takes a happy and emotionally intelligent person to find the answer to the challenges of life.

Amidst the recent deluge that swamped Metro Manila and its neighboring provinces, we saw the intrinsic humor of the Filipino people. This humor, coupled with an enormous amount of faith, proved to be the Pinoy’s floater in the swim of life. Happiness is found in the heroism displayed by those who did not think twice to rescue the helpless. In times of trouble, and despite their many differences, Filipinos hold hands and watch each other’s back and display the utmost act of kindness. In moments of need, they become one. Every act of kindness automatically brings happiness to the soul.

In the template of a happy person, honesty figures in prominently. I am inclined to believe that the happiness quotient of honest people is always high. For example, Anderson Cooper of CNN may have made himself more vulnerable to the prying eyes of the public but his honesty to admit his sexual preference says a lot about his pursuit of happiness. His coming out recently proves that homosexuality should not be kept in the closet anymore. It should be celebrated right on center stage. In his case, I can only surmise that it is in exposing his true self that genuine happiness is achieved.

But because Anderson Cooper did not admit his being gay in the past does not mean he lied. Coming out is never easy but it always remains a prerogative of the individual concerned. Anderson just became bolder by admitting it. And by becoming bolder, he became happier. Happier people have more peace of mind. For how can anyone not be any happier when he is already at peace with himself?

If honesty is one factor in determining one’s happiness quotient, where is success in the equation? It doesn’t take a genius to know that in the equilibrium of success, happiness is a prime component. It is not true, however, that poor people are always miserable and rich people are always happy. Happiness has nothing to do with how much you have, though money can really afford you some comforts of life. But comfort and happiness are two different things.

Simply put: happiness is a state of mind, not a statement from the bank.

Happy people are those who believe that utopia, like the fountain of youth, is a creation of wordsmiths on earth. A college professor once said that experiencing utopia is only achieved by those high on hallucinogens. But happiness is not some dope that you can snort. It is a product of one’s conscious effort to be real and content in any given situation.  

Because happy people do not believe in utopia, they know that not every single problem on earth has a solution. If every human being believes that every problem has a solution, that becomes a problem. Though many challenges in life can be solved, others can only be managed. Happy are those who are able to find ways to manage their unsolvable problems.

Happy people do not make mountains out of molehills but they know that they can get angry, too. Only, they have the conscious effort not to be eaten alive by their anger. They score high in anger management knowing fully that to be angry for a long period of time is to punish themselves at the mistakes of others. In the same vein, happy people are those who can easily forgive. Or if you happen to be on the offensive side, happy are those who ask for forgiveness.

In the subject of forgiveness that equates to happiness, here’s something I picked up from FB: “The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest. The first to forget is the happiest.” 

Happy people take themselves seriously in making themselves happy. They know how to laugh at their own follies. Self-deprecating humor is, many times, the best way to get a quota of happiness every day.

Happy people know how to enjoy life and it means watching the sunset and basking in the glory of nature. If a cool mountain breeze can make you smile or the smell of freshly mown grass can inspire you to write a poem, there’s no doubt that happiness resides in your heart.

Why is it important to be happy? When we are happy, we become healthy. A happy disposition in life, medical science proves, aids in healing body, mind and soul. It is also important to maintain a happy stance because as social beings we get to affect the behaviors and sensibilities of other people. Well, to be simplistic about it, it is important to be joyful because it is our birthright to be happy.

Happy people know that there is a Supreme Being who also makes them smile. One of the prevailing proofs that one has a sincere covenant with God is one’s unswerving attitude of joy and outlook on life. To know God is to know happiness.

To be happy does not mean to be ignorant of misery. As sadness is so much a part of life, happy people learn to turn it into an opportunity to make more happiness chips in the future. In moments of victory, it is very easy to be happy. In moments of defeat, the happy people hold their head high, as they remain magnanimous. A lesson in college psychology taught me that unhappy people who do acts of kindness heal more easily than those who mope in the corner. Then slowly they find their way to happiness.

Happiness is an inside job because a person creates it from within him. And the road that leads to it is always under construction because happiness is built every day with the conscious effort of achieving it.

Happy are those who have a thankful heart.

(For your new beginnings, please e-mail me at bumbaki@yahoo.com or my.new.beginnings@gmail.com. You may want to follow me on Twitter @bum_tenorio. Have a blessed Sunday!)