When I begin to think of my idea of a happy life, I think first of all of money, a plenty of money for everything all the time. Money to shop for a gorgeous house for my parents or my brothers and sisters with every convenience and luxury, money to shop for a fine motor car, all the garments we could ever want and as many possessions like transistors, bicycles and modern appliances, because the heart could desire, money too, for foreign travel and for a primary class education. Then, I think, I could be happy. But, is this really the answer ? It is true that the possession of cash contributes to comfort and straightforward living, but money in itself cannot create happiness.
Let us check out a number of the world's richest people. Barbara Hutton, the Woolworth's heiress, for instance, was divorced several times and lived a most unhappy life. There are many other rich people, whose misery is far greater than that of these living with merely enough money for the barest necessities of life.
The essentials, therefore, of a cheerful life don't dwell money. Indeed, very many of them are things that cash can never purchase. Good health is one among them and therefore the one that we value least, until we are in peril of losing it. It is true that brave people that suffer from ill-health do surmount it and sometimes find great happiness, but this needs great courage and every one of them would admit that they might be happier with a healthy body and leading a traditional life.
Like most of my fellowmen, I'm a gregarious animal and thus, love and human companionship are important factors in my idea of a cheerful life. Since a toddler , I even have needed the love of my parents and therefore the affection of my brothers and sisters. In a wider circle, the interests of my uncles and aunts and therefore the companionship of my school friends have all contributed to my happiness. Now that I'm older, I realize that I need to find a loving girl to marry, who will share all my joys and sorrows, and who will provide me with a congenial home life as a refuge from the storms and stresses of the planet outside. My childhood friends are being substituted for adult companions in college and in clubs, but I'm still surrounded by a wealth of friendship and love, which to me are essential for happiness.
I am now training to be a lawyer in our university. This subject has always interested me and since a toddler , my dream has been to become a solicitor and to return to my town to figure and to assist people there. Here again, it's essential to happiness to be trained to try to to a stimulating, worthwhile job that absorbs all one's working attention and provides an outlet for one's abilities and energies.
I like sport of all types, particularly basketball and swimming, and my idea of a cheerful life would come with time and opportunity for these pursuits. It would also include time to reading and for all my leisure activities and hobbies. Public service has always interested me, then i might want to require some part publicly life. What I actually do will, of course, depend upon where I'm living, but I shall certainly want to be a lively member of my Residents' Committee and my local church.
My faith too is vital to me and thus , it's essential for happiness that I should be ready to sleep in a rustic, where the people enter freedom to practice their own faiths. Singapore today, may be a living example to the planet , of this. People here, of the many diverse cultures live side by side in peace, each contributing to the culture of the remainder . All are tolerate. This is not so in every country of the world, and when freedom of speech and of action is taken away, as it regrettably can be, then all hope of happiness goes with it.
It is said, and rightly so, that happiness is that the most elusive and evasive thing of all, Indeed cynics have remarked that a person can only be truly happy when he is dead. The world would indeed be a miserable place if this were so, but fortunately, the bulk folks find more happiness than unhappiness in our lives. The secret of happiness perhaps lies in wanting the right things first, in working hard, in giving more than in receiving, so that eventually, we are able to achieve it.
Actually, happiness is relative to our wants and needs. Thus you are right setting priorities is important, and work on to achieve it.