Being happy has always been an enigma in our lives.

We just have to plow through the tons of articles on this subject matter as well as the numerous conferences and seminars that are being organised worldwide to realise this. What is interesting is that despite these efforts by humans to define the essence of “happiness”, most humans are not happy.

In the papers today, there’s an article which highlights that our happiness lies in our memories, and not in materialistic possession. This brings to mind what one of my friends have mentioned to me previously about the increase in the number of choices leading to our unhappiness. This observation is reinforced by what I have read in a book on happiness that as we are given more choices, we become unhappier (and ironically, not happier). If we were to look at the primary causes of the increase in our choices in life, much can be attributed to financial wealth and more specifically technology. In fact, both factors work in tandem with each other to create discomfort and unhappiness among us.  Our financial expanses enable us to purchase more things but along the way, our expectations of things that we can acquire increased. Couple our financial freedom with technology such as the internet (which opens up almost limitless purchasing options for us),   it’s no wonder that most of us have began to live life in a competitive manner, with material acquisition as our primary objectives.

Having said all this, some of you might be wondering if I am advocating the return to the  ”good old days”? My answer to this question will be “no”.  It’s important to note that despite its flaws, technology has aided us well in most aspects of our lives, such as easier access to information.

What we need to know is simply to understand the concept of simplicity. Because happiness lies in this very word. In our rush to keep up with the rest of the world, we have almost lose sight of where happiness lies. We begin to pick up habits like “multi-tasking”, “multiple-platform communications” (such as using MSN, SMSes and telephone to communication all at the same time) etc, all of which serves to undermine our peace of mind that is required for us to be happy.

To be happy, we just need to indulge in the simple things in life, such as taking a walk in the garden, having a meal with our close friends and loved ones as well as sipping from a cup of tea at our own time.

At the end of the day, we will realise that happiness is something that lies within ourselves, not without.

It’s such an irony that humans are trying so hard to search for happiness when the solution can be as simple as giving someone else a smile, or a call.