What is happiness? How can we reach it?

Happiness is something most people chase during their whole life. We define happiness distinctly. Some believe happiness comes from within, while others say happiness is the summation of all factors in our life getting together in perfect form. No matter which you choose, one thing is sure: we all hope and wish for it.

But what makes us happy? What exactly makes us happy?

Of course, this is different for everyone. What makes someone feel content may make another person feel empty inside. Though everybody must find their own unique meaning of their own happiness, the true sense of contentment is that no one can take it from us.

I personally believe happiness can be found in small moments. Many think happiness is not a state of life when achieving something such as gaining a good job, finding our right partner, going on a holiday, etc. However, happiness is a state of mind when we find joy in the small moments.

To realise these moments of joy is to slow down and be present for them. I am sure that young children are great masters of it. So, our children teach us happiness.

Why Can We Learn about Happiness from Children?

If we want to understand true happiness, we need only to detect young children. They don’t chase happiness; they simply embody it. They can find joy in the most common feature of nature.

When we go to the playground with my little girl after her preschool, we must go through a vast park to get there. She doesn’t want to rush through the park; she enjoys nature’s beauty. When she notices a beautiful pineal under the trees, we need to turn back to pick it up, gaze at it and take it home to give it to daddy.

Or she constantly feeds the magpies offering her pancakes to them. She can be so thrilled when a group of magpies surrounds us, impatiently waiting for her delicious pancakes. She immerses herself in the investigation of these little birds’ behaviour.

She is fascinated by dirt, wallows, or a squirrel hurryingly climbing on an old tree. They can keep her busy for a long time.

She taught me to slow down. Before her birth, I didn’t spend so much time in nature. I just rushed through the parks, submerging in my thoughts and thinking about what to do. But she taught me to stop for a while and notice the beauty of nature.

Little kids can enjoy the state of delight almost immediately. If they get caught in the rain, they are captivated by the sensation of soaking. They accept life without feeling sorry when things don’t happen according to ‘the plan.’

Between their birth and the age of four or five, little children can catch the experience of pure heaven. Most people are not capable of encountering happiness in this way after this age. That’s why we can say that our young children are our most outstanding teachers. They can lead us back to what we lost.

We, adults, are influenced by mainstream culture and often tend to look for happiness outside ourselves. In contrast with little children, we wait to be happy until we have the right job, get slim and pretty, or have friends in the ‘right’ social circle. They don’t look for happiness outside themselves; they fully experience their life as it is. They laugh, cry, sing, and dance when the desire arouses them. My Mira often starts dancing in the park, imitating my chasses from my Aviva method exercises, shouting: “Look at mummy, I am doing chasses as you do when you do your exercises!”

Adults always feel they have to do something and put many things on their to-do lists, but children enjoy being in the present. That’s why they are free, bold, and adventuresome.

Things that we can learn from our children

1. They live in the moment:
2. They love making stuff.
3. They believe.
4. They have got an afternoon nap.
5. They immerse.
6. They say what they want.
7. They get excited.
8. They sing and dance
9. They are spontaneous.
10. They always want to be seen and heard.
11. They love going outdoors.
12. They are curious about the world.
13. They are authentic.