Happiness lies within. Find it in this New year!

1. Wish you all a
Very Happy
New Year!

2. Let’s take a few minutes to
examine what these words
really mean.

3. First of all, has being Happy
got anything to do with the
New Year?

4. We think that somehow
things will be different in the
New Year and the change
will be in our favor!

5. What if it is not?
Can we still be happy?

6. This question has been
contemplated upon by great
thinkers since ages.

7. Religions have born as a result of
this contemplation, attempting
to provide answers.

8. Saints have been preaching
ways and means to find
Happiness.

9. While we always look
“around” us to find
Happiness, they ask us to
look “within”.

10. They tell us that Happiness
always exists within us. We
just need to “discover” it!

11. But, what is it covered with?
They say that it is covered with
Emotions and Attachments.

12. When we break the cover of
Emotions and Attachments,
we find Happiness!

13. We are attached to everything
around us!
We are attached to our children
We are attached to our job
We are attached to our house
We are attached to our car
We are attached to our looks

14. So, what’s wrong with attachment?
They say that attachment, when
the status quo is changed – not in
our favor, brings sorrow.

15. We are sad when our children act against
our wish
We are sad when we don’t get promotion
We are sad when our house is smaller than
our neighbor’s
We are sad when our car is dented
We are sad when we do not “look good”

16. Attachment is often
mistaken for Love.
And detachment for
insensitiveness.

17. They say that attachment is
Love with emotion
(and therefore selfish.)
Detachment is selfless Love.

18. Attachment cages the
parrot.
Detachment sets it free.

19. We take care of the caged parrot with
great responsibility. We feed it, we
protect it and we do everything to
keep it happy.
But, we do all this to fulfill our
emotional needs. When all is well, we
are happy. But when the bird is hurt,
we are disturbed.

20. When we set the parrot free, the true Love
for the bird out-weighs our emotional
needs. We still care for it. We still feed it
when it comes to us hungry. We still
protect it when it seeks shelter.
We are much happier than seeing it in the
cage. We are less disturbed when it is hurt,
because we take it in our stride and accept
it as natural.

21. So, friends, let’s remove the cover
of attachments and emotions and
find the Happiness within us!

22. Here are some inspiring quotes by
eminent people that will help us
focus on Happiness within.

23. “You must try to generate
happiness within yourself. If you
aren't happy in one place, chances
are you won't be happy anyplace.”
-Ernie Banks

24. “Happiness is not a goal; it is a byproduct.”
-Eleanor Roosevelt

25. “The greatest happiness of life is
the conviction that we are loved -loved for ourselves, or rather, loved
in spite of ourselves.”
-Victor Hugo

26. “Happy he who learns to bear
what he cannot change.”
-Friedrich Schiller

27. “Remember that the happiest
people are not those getting
more, but those giving more.”
-H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

28. “Happiness is not something ready
made. It comes from your own
actions.”
-Dalai Lama

29. “There is only one way to
happiness and that is to cease
worrying about things which are
beyond the power of our will.”
-Epictetus

30. “If you want others to be
happy, practice compassion. If you
want to be happy, practice
compassion.”
-Dalai Lama

31. “If you want to be happy, be.”
-Leo Tolstoy

32. So friends, what should be our
New Year resolution that will help
us find Happiness?

33. Let’s Resolve
To strip the soul of all pretence,
To hold each day in reverence,
To keep the head and heart apace,
To make this world a worth-while place,
To share our bread with those in need,
To tolerate a neighbor’s creed,
To keep a stride without a strut,
To make a home in a mansion or hut,
To have the grit to grin at loss,
TO MASTER LIFE AND BE ITS BOSS!
Credit: unknown

34. Let 2014 be the year you
find your Happiness!
Thank you!