Feeling Of Happiness

Necessities are the wheels which set motion in life; they are intangible, a feeling, and a genuine need. Comforts and luxuries add something more concrete and tangible to the whole experience, but they change with time. One can live without material, but cannot live without that spark of feeling which motivates a person to move forward and not continue. Happiness is a sublime feeling. Benjamin Franklin very appropriately summarizes this by saying, “Happiness consists more in small conveniences and pleasures that occur everyday, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom to a man in the course of his life”.

Nicholas Barbon, very accurately states “if strictly Examined, nothing is absolutely necessary to support Life, but Food; for a great part of Mankind go Naked, and lye in Huts and Caves”. David Hume states that middle rank is the best. The rich are mostly immersed in pleasure, and the poor are always struggling for necessities. The middle position provides the best opportunity to acquire virtue, wisdom and happiness. Honesty and hard work forms the pillar of character which has the power to unfold the future. This equation has changed with time, the middleclass has become very dynamic and powerful, and its reflection is in the youth of today. The passage of time has changed the character of the middle rank; the change is towards the material pursuit of happiness in the form of luxury. The youth of today are materially surrounded with gadgets, technology and science. Thirty years ago it took a lifetime to procure a decent house for a middle rank family, whereas now they can have it in less than five years of working experience along with luxuries like a TV, refrigerator, car, air-conditioner, music system, spring mattress etc.. There has been no period of time in history when the youth has had so much exposure to easy acquisition of knowledge and the power of technology as today. Everyday the life of man is secured by a variety of choices and abundant access to technology, which if properly harnessed can lead to emergence of smart, well informed and savvy citizens, who can make sound and knowledgeable decisions. With this power comes the responsibility to understand the subtle thread which connects luxuries, comforts and necessities. Greater power requires a greater degree of understanding and responsibility; understanding which makes them attuned to their real nature and inner strength, without which all the material pursuit cannot yield happiness.