Happiness
Most of us are constantly trying to move to ‘a higher level’ in life. More comfort, more money, more possessions, more job satisfaction—there’s always something ahead that we believe will finally make us happy. We tell ourselves, if I get this, I’ll be happy; if I achieve that, I’ll be happy.
But this way of thinking is wrong. If I’m not happy already, I’m unlikely to truly reach those things in a meaningful way. And even if I do reach them, they never seem to be enough—there’s always something else that I need, in order to be happy. That’s because you haven’t got the concept of what life is really about.
Whether life is about struggle, achievement, or success, none of it works without happiness coming first. And I don’t mean superficial happiness, the kind that depends on external things, but a deeper, more grounded happiness. The kind of happiness Rumi talks about when he says, “I am joy, I am joy. I don’t want to hear your complaints. Don’t disturb my world and my vibration with your negativity.” That happiness comes from within himself.
Think of it like driving from point A to point B, I can’t reach my destination without fuel; I need to get the fuel first in order to start my journey. In life, that fuel is happiness. Without it, I won’t get far. I need to be inwardly happy and content. And even if the journey doesn’t end where I expected, if I’ve been happy along the way, I can take the outcome as experience rather than failure. I won’t lose sleep over it.
My happiness shouldn’t depend on what I achieve. Instead, what I achieve depends on my happiness. That shift in perspective changes everything—and it’s something we need to reflect on.
Nothing Changes Until We Change
Life has a hard way of teaching us the truth, and it tries to teach us repeatedly until we realise it. Nothing changes until we change.
Your life is not a reflection of your hopes. It is a reflection of your habits. When you look back honestly, you begin to see that most people are not deeply invested in your struggle. They might listen politely. They might nod. But in the end, people judge results, not effort. They see outcomes, not sleepless nights. That’s just reality.
And if we are honest, the biggest enemy we face is not failure. It is our own mind. The mind destroys more dreams than failure ever could. Anxiety. Indecision. Overthinking. All of it quietly convinces us to wait, to hesitate, to play small. Dreams do not die loudly. They fade while we are thinking about them.
But the slowest and most dangerous killer of all is comfort. Comfort destroys potential. Silently. It pretends to be safety. It feels warm and familiar, and it whispers that this is enough. Many people believe being comfortable means being secure, but comfort often means you have stopped growing. You feel safe, but you are not moving. And a life that does not move slowly shrinks.
We must remember this. We are responsible for our own lives. No one else. Not our parents. Not our circumstances. Not the past. Responsibility is power. The moment you take ownership, you take control.
Excuses feel protective, but they only protect our limitations. They never protect our future. Every excuse builds a wall around what we think we cannot do. And futures do not grow behind walls.
If you want a different life, you need different habits. Different decisions. Different standards for yourself. Change does not start when the world changes. It starts when you do.
And that choice is always yours.
Do Not Fall In Love With The World
A son once told his father that he had fallen in love with a girl whom he wanted to marry and asked him to go and speak to her family. The father agreed and went to see the girl.
When the father met her, he fell in love with her himself. When he returned home, he told his son that the girl was more suitable for him than for the son. This led to an argument between them, and the family became divided and unhappy.
Not knowing how to resolve the situation, they decided to visit a wise man in their community, known for giving fair advice. They explained the problem and asked him to judge who should marry the girl. When the wise man met her, he also fell in love with her and said that she was more suitable for him than for either the father or the son.
Angry and confused, they decided to take the matter to someone with more authority. They went to the vizier, a high official close to the king. The vizier saw the girl, and also fell in love with her, saying she should marry him instead.
Finally, they went to the king himself. When the king saw the girl, he too fell in love and wanted to marry her, and said she was more suitable for him than for anyone else.
At this point, the girl spoke. She suggested a test. She said she would run, and whoever caught her could marry her. She began to run, and all of them ran after her. While chasing her, they fell into a deep pit and could not get out.
Standing above them, the girl told them that her name was World. She explained that they were always chasing her, thinking they could possess her, but instead they only harmed themselves by doing so.
This story shows how people at every level of life can become attached to worldly desires. Age, wisdom, and power do not protect anyone from being tempted. Each person believed he deserved the girl more than the others, just as people often believe they deserve wealth, status, or pleasure.
The lesson is not that the world should be completely rejected, but that becoming overly attached to it distracts us from finding our true being. When people spend their lives chasing worldly things, they often never reach true satisfaction and may lose peace and balance along the way.
The story reminds us to be careful about how much importance we give to worldly desires and not to let them control our lives.