THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

 I have to give credit to the source from where I picked this Title for my “Pursuit of Happiness”. It is borrowed from one of my favorite movie and a movie you must all watch for inspiration in Life. Starring Will Smith and his Son Jaden Smith, the film goes about how a struggling salesman who is not making enough for his living by selling his Bone Density Scanner; takes to Stock-broking.

Moving on to the Topic. Let me ask first.

What are our Pursuits in daily Life?

Education – School, Diploma, Degree, Masters, Doctorate
Job / Business – To earn for our Living
Health – Keep us fit, staying in Good shape or in Good Health
Friends & Family – Friendship, Love, Family bonding, Social Networking, Tweeting, Facebook.
All these pursuits lead to one Destination. That is Happiness.
Oh! Well, add entertainment – Our interests, Hobbys, Fun, Comedy to this list! And everything is a Pursuit for Happiness.

Beginning with Campus Life.

Enjoying the best days of our Life. Campus Life is a sweet memory for every individual to cherish. Obvious and no doubt. Leaving the toppers and sincere students, they always knew what they were doing. But the clueless, back-benchers, class bunker, last-minute assignment submitters, fun gatheringings in the Students Union, for few the first puffs of smoke, first cheers of Beer Glass. All shall be our memoirs of that beautiful College Life. School Life is playful, whereas College-life is thoughtful. We are curios, excited, fresh blooded, enthused, ready for our final touches to land in the Societyand take up responsibility. Hitting the Road, the highway of our Life and career. We will follow the same flow what every senior has done. Some eagerly waited for Placements, Some of us were sure of finding a Job ourselves, thinking of our Education Loan repayment, some yearned for higher studies MBA or MS in US or Europe, Some of us waiting to take Family Business or Entrepreneurship.

What is in there after you have taken the plunge?

Think of our work-life. The job goers. 

Ok, initial days in company is always a Honeymoon. More relaxed with Induction Programs, Trainings and Less Work. But that’s just a short time. Just the tip of the Ice-berg. Soon we get to start our work in the given domain. Earning our first bugs shall not be a sweat-out if we are an IT Employee. New Cubicle, New Comp, New Friends, May be few even bought a new Bike. Then weekend Party, Facebook Meet-up, Conference Call, Texting, all in the Pursuit of Happiness!

But passing time shall add more things to our work and life than that what we expect.

Prime thing Work! – Responsibility, Seniority, delivery, Meeting Deadlines, Project review Meetings, Documentation, Training. Then slowly Team Lead, Client Coordination, Project management, Work related travel. Fun is till the Pressure is bearable by us. It is then, the actual phase starts. Enlightenment in Work!

Welcome to the Rat race!
We realize that we have less time for self, we are mechanical now. We are owned by the company we are working for. We can’t pull ourself out as we are committed now. We may be supporting our Family, Some may have started a Family, have a Kid also. Have a house loan to Pay, Car loan to Pay, Insurance, blah, blah. Also enjoying a comfortable life-style, everything Branded from Outer-garments to the inner ones.

Some of us face our first Stress Related Problems. We make an oath of Excercise and Yoga now. Some run on the mill or Start Yoga. But again it shall be discontinued after few weeks. All available and usual excuses!

Wait, all these are not for all… Here I would like to tell, for the Person for whom working is Passion, Researching is Passion, Coding is Passion, Technology is Passion, … This shall be the Sweetest Job on the earth. But I think majority don’t have this passion. Because we still don’t know what is our passion.

Now the Dead End comes!

Recession? How will it be job-less, fired from the company where you have worked dedicatedly adding up to the Company’s Profit? Imagine them. Or your company is acquired by another big company. The new management starts Head Cutting, as a point of Cost cutting. No matter what position, how much experience, Corporates are straight with their procedures.

Why company, whole Government can Fail! Thanks to the Globalization, the ripples shall be felt all across the world. The world is really uncertain. And through Globalization today the World has become Flat. This means all economies are interdependent such that a Tsunami or Earthquake in Japan can trouble your Job Security.

That’s why, we should always prepare for the Worst!

Best is always good when it comes, even unprepared you can take the goodies Happily. But it is the Bad that we Humans can’t take. Humiliation and Failure are tough emotions to Handle. Groom your mental Health to tolerate for the worst out-comes. Job or Business, think of failure as much as Success. It will always help you sail through your life. The preparedness shall defend the impact of the Worst.

Have Passion! People with Passion have the persistence and courage of enduring Failures and eventually meeting Success! You must know it for the Pursuit of your Happiness. If you don’t know yourself, then you cannot master anything else. Be your master! Discover your Potentials. How?

You have to try. Give time to Yourself. Listen to your inner voices. Try new things, read books, meet new people, Travel and Contemplate. Have a hobby in mind, go do it, join for a short-term course, Guitar, Yoga, Acting, Directing, Talking, Cooking, Modeling, Interior Decoration, Foreign Languge, Trekking, Trading… there are so many things. This trys and trails shall help you discover your potential. Your Passion, Your Vision for Life. I am sure it will add some philosophical component to your Life also.

Discovering the Passion shall allow you to discover the most liked work you would like to do everyday. You dream of it in sleep or when awake. And if have started to think of improvement, upliftment, betterment: A new method, A new technology, A new Business Idea! That’s when the Entrepreneur in you is born! You start seeing Opportunities! Enterpreneurship is different journey. It is for the Free and Fearless Spirits who are ready to take the Risk. Entrepreneurs are everywhere, and there are a lot today! Please, don’t think of it as a Fancy world!  It is only if it is your Cup of Tea, it is really not everyone’s cup! You should really know what you are going to do. It is like Bull-Fighting, be ready to get wounded or bruised in the field. Only strong hearts can Try, fail, Try, fail, Try, fail and Try again. And No defeat is final until you stop trying, so finally you shall succeed. Entrepreneurship generates Jobs. It uplifts the society. Entrepreneurship is sometimes serendipity or for some it is the dream and ambition right from the beginning. Entrepreneurship is not only for men! Women can be good entrepreneurs. There are lot of opportunity for Women. A Women entrepreneur has a special respect in our society. Try to grab that spot. Try and it shall be really thrilling, exciting, enthralling experience.

Finally!
The pursuit of Happiness is in-complete without Moral Fibers. Yes, Moral Fibers, That is Moral science! I don’t know why our Education lacks this Value-Education or Life Science. We can groom to be very good Engineers but we shall miss to have the important attribute, Humanity or Righteousness if we don’t learn the Morality of Living. A basic education which we lack in our syllabus. Human to human understanding is an important leadership character. Its really like that, with Software knowledge you can write a piece of code for a Life Saving equipment or a program to Hack. Good and Intelligence should go together, not the Evil and intelligence, the later shall only lead to destruction and chaos. When you know morally what is right, you live and let live others peacefully. Thus it is in the Pursuit of Happiness that you also allow others to Pursue. Moral science is the foundation of Human being. A person who knows the Right way will not take the wrong way, at the least will not tend to.

Well… You will come through different scenarios in Life. Different situations when you have to decide for yourself. And everything shall be an experience, pass over that and move on in Life. Pursuit of Happiness is a never ending endeavor. World is full of opportunities. Take a chance with Life. Live everyday as if it were your Last!

Have a dream, chase it. Have passion. Evolve everyday. Be humble.

Make the best of yourself! Live, Laugh and Love!