BE HAPPY

THE clock strikes 11:58 p.m., barely two minutes to the end of the day. Soon another day will pass with somebody’s dreams still unaccomplished, his hopes dashed away, his talents not exploited, his potentials untapped, and his endless sacrifices still unrecognised. But miraculously he still carries on, thanking God immensely for giving him the opportunity to see each brand-new day.
My friend Peter is one of such persons. He told me his happiness comes from the following words on his door post which he always reads when leaving or entering his house: “A diamond doesn’t lose its value due to lack of admiration”.
Of course Peter is not alone in this situation, for I know of persons who sit and watch others dance in a gathering, but the moment they get up to join those on the dance floor, the drums develop a problem.
They use one year to get their “O” Levels but more than five to get their “A” Levels. Others are appointed ministers, but before people mobilise for their homecoming, they have been dropped. Some people serve their master(s) faithfully, but just when they are due settlement they are kicked out.
There are a lot of bitter feelings. Some are bitter with their country, Cameroon, others are bitter with their bosses. Still others are bitter with their spouses, friends, and business partners. Some students are bitter with their teachers, and one can dare say, some teachers are bitter with each other!
Surprisingly, some people are bitter with themselves or are bitter with God! Lady, you are angry with God and have not forgiven him for not giving you a child until now. You are angry with God for allowing your husband – your only source of joy, to die under mysterious circumstances. You are bitter with God for missing a scholarship you merited but which you lost for obvious reasons. You may still be bitter with yourself for the curses you brought on yourself as a result of your despicable deeds.
The truth is that no matter what has happened, no matter how depressed you are, you are still a diamond. Do not be bitter, you can still turn things around. You still have your role to play in the society and create a positive impact in somebody’s life. Destiny can only be delayed, but not denied.
It’s true there are many obstacles, but let us learn like Booker Washington that “ success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which one has overcome while trying to succeed.” Abraham Lincoln had a catalogue of disappointments, but he became one of America’s famous presidents. Be happy and friendly, always remembering that it is hard even for the most selfish man to eat fish in darkness.

Some people are happy over the misfortune of their enemies, others are happy when their rivals falter. Some masters (or heads of establishments) are happy when their servants (or subordinates) are ridiculed or are in a miserable condition. This does not take away the irony that there are those who are unhappy with their present state but will be happy if they were in another person’s shoes.
This is not the type of happiness I am talking about. I am talking about genuine happiness. According to the novelist philosopher Ayn Rand, “Happiness is not the satisfaction of whatever irrational wishes you might blindly attempt to enjoy. Happiness is a state of non-contradictory joy – a joy without penalty or guilt… Happiness is possible only to a rational man, the man who desires nothing but rational goals, seeks nothing but rational values, and finds his joy in nothing but rational actions… there are no victims and no conflicts of interest among rational men, men who do not desire the unearned…”
We humans are social beings. We come into the world as the result of others’ actions. We can only survive here by depending on others. Whether we like it or not, there is hardly a moment of our lives when we do not benefit from others’ activities. For this reason it is hardly surprising that most of our happiness arises in the context of our relationships with others. There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that: the three things we crave most in life — happiness, freedom, and peace of mind — are always attained by giving them to someone else. Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to yourself and others.

There are as many nights as days, and the one is just as long as the other in the year’s course. Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word ‘happy’ would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness!

Enow Williams
https://enowil.wordpress.com