Remember the plot of the film "Gods must be crazy"? A pilot drops an empty Coca-Cola bottle into the Kalahari Desert. It is found by a Bushman who has never seen such a thing before. The bottle soon becomes a coveted object among a tribe that has always shared everything. So one of the Bushman decides to carry the bottle to the end of the earth and throw it off. He wanted Happiness back for his tribe. The brand line of Coca-Cola says, "Open Happiness".
Happiness is a thing of retrospect. It is always in the past. I was happy when I saw the above-mentioned movie as a kid. I was happy to be with my friends at school. I was happy last year when we went to a hill-station to celebrate the New Year Party. I was happy yesterday when I was reading a message from my teacher. I was happy some time ago, but why not now? The moment I say I am happy right now, in the very present, I lose that happiness. All other thoughts come to my mind which gives me reasons not to be happy.
Many times we are ready to give our happiness as a trade-off for being right in our lives. We want to make sure that we are not fooled by others, not manipulated/dominated by others. In order to justify ourselves, our beliefs we are fine to give our happiness!
Then how to be Happy? How to "Open Happiness"? The pursuit of happiness is an indication of not finding it. It's a never-ending search. The better question to ask is, "Why do you want to be happy?". The way, "I am happy" is a thought, "It is good to be happy" is also a thought. Being aware of these created structures may lead to happiness. Accidentally. Opening a bottle, won't.
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