Happiness. Success. Wealth. Desire. Education. We often use these words and think that we understand what they mean very well. But do we really understand them correctly?
Each one of us can live in comfortable conditions, having a loving family and financial independence. Many of us received higher education and learnt how to provide for ourselves and our families. At first sight, it seems that we should be happy, but many of us keep on suffering. Why does it happen? There are many reasons:
- We can’t control our feelings and emotions
- We don’t know how to build happy and strong relationships
- We can’t keep our bodies healthy all the time
- We hate the jobs we have and see no sense in doing them
If these things are true for us, how can we be happy?
Possessing everything we ever wanted, we still want more and more, because deep inside our Souls we don’t feel satisfaction from our achievements. It becomes evident that outer achievements don’t give us inner peace and harmony. They don’t give us true happiness. This rat race for material wellbeing can continue for dozens of years. And at some point, it seems that we’re walking along a vast desert of life, striving to quench our thirst, but everything it offers us is a glass of salty water. How is it possible to attain real happiness?
At the same time, there are people who think that they’ll succeed when they attain their goals. But can we always call it a success? Nuclear physicist had a goal to create a nuclear bomb. They did it, and it led to deaths of thousands of people. Was it a success? Oil companies drain oil from our Earth, thus polluting our environment and weakening the resources of our Home. Is it a success? Smokers finish one package of cigarettes after another, harming their health more and more. Is it a success? If it is, why does this kind of success make us unhappy?
Now let’s look at the definition of wealth. We think that being wealthy means having much money. But can money give us happiness and satisfaction? If it can, why are there so many rich and unhappy people? I like the story told by Dalai Lama XIV in one of his books. When he arrived to the USA for the first time, he was surprised to see the high quality of living in this country. He thought that people living in this kind of comfort can’t be unhappy. But this myth was busted when His Holiness saw a pack of anti-depressants in a bathroom of wealthy people. I’m sure that you also know a number of people, who have a lot of money, but their wealth doesn’t give them happiness and harmony, but instead it increases the level of stress in their life. Why can’t money make them happy?
We strive to fulfill our desires. But what kind of desires are they? Usually they come from the lack of something. “I don’t have enough money, I want more.” “I want to have a bigger house.” “I want to eat delicacies every single day.” Now imagine that this person earns a lot of money, buys a huge house, and gets an opportunity to eat the best food. Does it make him happy? Not at all. It makes him want more and more. Even after getting everything he wanted, this person thinks that something is still not enough – “I want even more money, one more house, and more food.” These desires are never-ending, because they don’t come from inner fullness, but from lack of something. Is it possible to satisfy all these desires?
In our world, there are thousands of schools, colleges, and universities that give “higher” education to hundreds of thousands people. However, despite this abundance of knowledge, we still live in constant stress. Educational institutions teach us everything but the understanding of ourselves and our true nature. As a result, we graduate from them, thinking that we’re ready for everything, but soon we face a lot of problems and realize that we don’t know a lot. What’s more, we don’t know the most important things – how to understand ourselves, control our minds, our feelings and emotions, and how to live in peace with ourselves and others. These are the things that lead to constant stress which begins in an individual, and then spreads to their family, society and the entire world. So how can we think that we’re educated?
Fortunately, there are people who live differently and don’t experience these problems. They also work to attain their goals, but these goals are in harmony with their inner nature and the outer world. They also make up a plan to realize their goal, but they do it in accordance with their values, listen to their heart, and remember about Universal Laws. What result do they get?
- They are physically active, because they know how important it is to keep their body healthy
- They know how to build happy and solid relationships with themselves, their loved ones, family members, friends, partners, and other people
- They do the work they like and live up to their life purpose, having sufficient finances for everything they need
- They remember how important it is to help others
- They don’t focus on their problems, but on solutions of these problems
- They are happy to have everything they already have, even if they lack something
- They always work on themselves and listen to their inner voice
As a result, these people become happy. They are always joyful and they make others joyful, as well.
Would you like to live like that? If you do, how you can do it? In order to answer this question and understand why these two kinds of people get different results, it’s important to see the difference between them.
Improper definitions of words “Happiness”, “Success”, “Wealth”, “Desire”, and “Education”
We all give certain definitions to the words we use every day. And sometimes we don’t even think how important these definitions can be. This is how you can tell truly happy people from unhappy ones, truly successful from losers, truly wealthy from the poor, and well-educated ones from those who only got “higher” education. For example, how do we define the word “happiness”? We think that in order to be happy, we have to succeed, earn more money, build a family, and live in comfort. What definition do we have for “success”? Most people associate it with attainment of goals, financial freedom, and social authority. What is “wealth”? We think that it’s about having a huge bank account. What do we think about the word “desire”? We define is as the yearning for getting certain results, obtaining something we lack, or eliminating something we dislike. And, finally, how do we characterize the word “education”? In our society, an educated person is someone who has finished school and university and has a certificate that proves it.
But are these definitions correct?
- Do things like earning a lot of money, having a family, and living in comfort always equal to happiness?
- Can we tell that the person, who obtained financial freedom and authority through the suffering of others, is successful?
- Is someone actually rich, if they understand that money can’t buy them love and friendship?
- Is it possible to realize all desires and get absolutely everything one wants?
- Does a person become really well-educated after finishing prestigious educational institutions?
All these five questions should get a negative answer. If you think about it, you’ll understand that the incorrect definitions of these words make us suffer. Defining happiness, success, wealth, desire, and education in this way, we focus on ourselves and forget about others. Those who stick to proper characterizations of happiness, success, wealth, desire, and education focus on the contribution they can make for the society and the world. They focus on helping others. And, thus, they develop themselves, follow the desires of their Souls and become truly happy, successful, wealthy, and educated.
Proper definitions of words “Happiness”, “Success”, “Wealth”, “Desire”, and “Education”
So how should we characterize the words “happiness”, “success”, “wealth”, “desire”, and “education” to build a better life?
- Happiness is not about doing what you want. It’s about wanting to do what you need to do. True happiness doesn’t come from possessing outer things, but from having inner harmony.
- Success is living the life full of meaning and harmony with oneself and others. It’s about having a happy family, following your calling, being healthy, building sincere relationships, feeling joyfulness, and selflessly helping others.
- Wealth isn’t only about financial security, but also about the inner world of a person, their living conditions and the friends who are ready to help at any given moment. True wealth can’t be limited to material wellbeing.
- We often confuse the desires of the body, mind, and Soul. Desires of our body and mind come from lack of something, while desires of our Soul come from inner fullness. Following the desires of our Soul, we will always be satisfied. We will do our work with pleasure and energy, wanting to share its fruit with others.
- Education shouldn’t only exist in its outer form (school, college, university), but also in its inner form (knowledge about one’s true nature and understanding of one’s own mind, feelings, and yearnings). Only the combination of both forms can be called higher education.
Those who understand and accept actual definitions of these words, as well as take proper actions in accordance with them, can be truly happy. But how can one accept these definitions and live up to them? International Life Academy will help you do it. Read the book “Cup of Coffee to Awaken” by Vladimir Travinsky to learn about the Structure and Nature of Our Reality and start making proper actions for the attainment of your goals. You can also complete our free master-class “Life Diagnostics”, where you will learn what spheres of your life affect the way your live. It will help you understand how to create a happy and successful life, how to possess true wealth, be well-educated, and follow the desires of your Soul!
