Feelings..7.. Happiness

We are all human beings… rather, we are homo sapiens, “the wise man”… so the common man is also a homo sapien, Q.E.D. (what a joke!! he, a wise man???) and a wise man is supposed to be a thinker, right? So our common, “wise” man was thinking… he was thinking what he overheard two persons talking in the crowded Metro the other day – one was strongly advocating the intrinsic benefits of a 3G handset over other, normal hand-held sets and the sheer pleasure of owning and using one, while the other listened intently..

We, as a race, are quite pleasure seeking… and we have so many things that give us pleasure these days – good food and drinks, so many channels on the TV, fashionable clothes, swanky cars, nice fragrances, new models of FMCG products, wonderful looking people of both sexes, some words of appreciation from someone whom we value… all of these are there to please our senses..  Yet, when it comes to the matter of being happy, we are not happy…

Sometime back, our man was reading a book titled “The road less travelled” and came across an interesting concept of gratification, instant as well as delayed..And this is where, perhaps, pleasure differs from happiness…

All those lovely things around us described above, is to give us pleasure.. mostly, immediate pleasure or instant gratification. We crave for happiness and, in its pursuit, end up seeking pleasure.. the source of such pleasures are always external to us – i.e. our environment, which has a huge impact on our state of mind and, as we seek more and more pleasure, we tend to become more and more dependent on our environment, our immediate surroundings, our circles of influence… and before long, happiness is equated with pleasure, sensory or otherwise..

Delayed gratification, on the other hand, is something which is more internal.. it evokes a deep sense of satisfaction when achieved, spreads a warm feeling from inside.. “its not easy to search for gratification within,” our man mused… but then people say that its not difficult either.. here, we don’t seek immediate pleasure, but the pleasure comes after some time has elapsed and therefore, has a more long lasting effect …

Does the reader also feel that, delving into one’s own self is a difficult proposition?? Are we losing touch with ourselves in our daily struggle to seek instant gratifications, like love, sex, appreciation etc? Are we picking up glass pieces thinking them to be diamonds, while the precious stone actually lies elsewhere, deep within us? Have we lost our soul?

What are we? What am I ??? Do we ever stop, ponder, try to seek an answer??? Or leave it to the tide, as it flows.. “chalta hai”….