Is happiness what we think it is?

A lot of us measure happiness as the pleasure we derive from the fulfilment of our desires. The pleasure we derive when we buy a new car, when we finally get that promotion we had been waiting for. We create the image of a happy life from some imaginary conditions society tells us we must achieve or accomplish. Our life is then spent pursuing this happiness from outside goals and desires. Our aspirations to happiness can prevent us from seeing the richness we already possess within us. What if true happiness resides within us?

Authentic happiness lies within us

Think about the time you were in a zone, completely focused on your action and oblivious to any chaos around you. Your mind was still and calm. Authentic happiness lies in those moments of bliss we find when we are completely present. It is the state of mind when what we say, do and think are all in harmony. When our words and actions are in harmony with our thoughts, we are acting from our true authentic self and this leads to moments of authentic happiness.

Teachers share thoughts during School of Joy programme

As part of the teacher coaching sessions in the School of Joy programme, each teacher goes through a journey of self discovery as they look deep within themselves to understand their core values and define their life’s purpose. In this journey, they discover parts of themselves they didn’t realise exist before.

When the teachers signed up for the Little Light “School of Joy” programme, they took the first step in this path towards working on themselves and connecting with their authentic selves. When we intentionally take time out to work on ourselves, the benefits in the long term are immense.

Sonal Sehgal from TSMS Noida shared during one of the sessions, “I am the gardener of my own tree (of life). In order to keep my tree strong, I will work on my core values and use my strengths to nurture myself. This strengthens my roots and helps me withstand any obstacles in life.” This thought is what is helping the teachers to focus on simply being themselves.

A beautiful sharing from Sadhana Singh amazed us by her understanding of the concept. “We have inbuilt core values that define our basic nature. WIth life’s experiences, there is a veil drawn on these core values and we are not able to act in accordance with our authentic selves. This causes an imbalance in our lives. I have decided to intentionally work on henceforth acting from my core values or authentic nature.”

Impact of acting in harmony with our authentic self

As we enjoy being authentic and ourselves, we experience a sense of bliss and even the people around us experience this happiness. Teacher shared how they have been practising being themselves and at times when they do not operate from that space, they experience disharmony or stress. When they take time out to spend time working on themselves, nourishing their beliefs and themselves, they can see a shift in their state of mind and are in a better place to interact meaningfully with others around them.