The Happiness Remarks

I am thrilled to highlight guest author, Ahmed Kanan. I met this charming young man on Google+, and he invited me to become a member of his new community, Awesome Bloggers. His posts are inevitably quirky and cute. Ahmed leads me to see everyday events and objects from a fresh, humorous perspective. It’s an added bonus that his posts are often deeply inspiring as well:

I have learned that while everybody wants to live at the top, happiness is often found while climbing to the top. In those cases, what is important to us comes before what we want.

In the book, Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster, the protagonist, Jerusha “Judy” Abbott, wrote this in one of her letters:

It isn't the great big pleasures that count the most; it's making a great deal out of the little ones--I've discovered the true secret of happiness, Daddy, and that is to live in the now. Not to be forever regretting the past, or anticipating the future; but to get the most that you can out of this very instant. It's like farming. You can have extensive farming and intensive farming; well, I am going to have intensive living after this. I'm going to enjoy every second, and I'm going to KNOW I'm enjoying it while I'm enjoying it. 

Most people don't live; they just race. They are trying to reach some goal far away on the horizon, and in the heat of the going they get so breathless and panting that they lose all sight of the beautiful, tranquil country they are passing through; and then the first thing they know, they are old and worn out, and it doesn't make any difference whether they've reached the goal or not. I've decided to sit down by the way and pile up a lot of little happinesses, even if I never become a Great Author. Did you ever know such a philosopheress as I am developing into?

... People accept happiness as a matter of course. The World, they think, owes them everything they want. Maybe the World does--in any case, it seems to acknowledge the debt and pay up. But as for me, it owes me nothing, and distinctly told me so in the beginning. I have no right to borrow on credit, for there will come a time when the World will repudiate my claim.

Happiness is not a destination, it is a journey. So enjoy the little things along the way; invest them and pile them up. You deserve your happiness but you have to fight for it; the world doesn't owe you anything.

That journey to happiness is very similar to having a healthy life but, here, you exercise your soul. So, train as hard as you can. In your daily routine find contentment, peace, forgiveness, and be positive in the very small things:

• Spend two minutes a day "praying/meditating" being consciously, deliberately, mindfully, positively grateful.

• Before you sleep, count the positive things you did during that day, the small ones, like I stopped at the red light or I ate a healthy meal.

A happy life to you, dear reader!

Now, how do you avoid going the wrong way? 

Ahmed Kanan currently resides in Saudi Arabia. However, he has lived in five different countries during his lifetime. His interests include sports and painting. He delightfully describes himself as “wannabe writer” who writes about his random ideas and observations. Please find more of his refreshing posts on his blog.