Wish you all a Very HappyNew Year!

Let’s take a few minutes to examine what these words

really mean.

First of all, has being Happy got anything to do with the

New Year?

We think that somehow things will be different in the

New Year and the change will be in our favor!

What if it is not?

Can we still be happy?

This question has been contemplated upon by great

thinkers since ages.

Religions have born as a result of this contemplation, attempting

to provide answers.

Saints have been preaching ways and means to find

Happiness.

While we always look “around” us to find

Happiness, they ask us to look “within”.

They tell us that Happiness always exists within us. We just need to “discover” it!

But, what is it covered with?

They say that it is covered with Emotions and Attachments.

When we break the cover of Emotions and Attachments,

we find Happiness!

We are attached to our childrenWe are attached to our jobWe are attached to our houseWe are attached to our carWe are attached to our looks

We are attached to everything around us!

They say that attachment, when the status quo is changed – not in

our favor, brings sorrow.

So, what’s wrong with attachment?

We are sad when our children act against our wish

We are sad when we don’t get promotionWe are sad when our house is smaller than

our neighbor’sWe are sad when our car is dentedWe are sad when we do not “look good”

Attachment is often mistaken for Love.

And detachment for insensitiveness.

They say that attachment is Love with emotion

(and therefore selfish.)

Detachment is selfless Love.

Attachment cages the parrot.

Detachment sets it free.

We take care of the caged parrot with great responsibility. We feed it, we protect it and we do everything to

keep it happy.

But, we do all this to fulfill our emotional needs. When all is well, we are happy. But when the bird is hurt,

we are disturbed.

When we set the parrot free, the true Love for the bird out-weighs our emotional

needs. We still care for it. We still feed it when it comes to us hungry. We still

protect it when it seeks shelter.

We are much happier than seeing it in the cage. We are less disturbed when it is hurt, because we take it in our stride and accept

it as natural.

So, friends, let’s remove the cover of attachments and emotions and

find the Happiness within us!

Here are some inspiring quotes by eminent people that will help us

focus on Happiness within.

“You must try to generate happiness within yourself. If you

aren't happy in one place, chances are you won't be happy anyplace.”

-Ernie Banks

“Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.”

-Eleanor Roosevelt

“The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved --

loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.”

-Victor Hugo

“Happy he who learns to bear what he cannot change.”

-Friedrich Schiller

“Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more,

but those giving more.”

-H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own

actions.”

-Dalai Lama

“There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease

worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.”

-Epictetus

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to

be happy, practice compassion.”

-Dalai Lama

“If you want to be happy, be.”

-Leo Tolstoy

So friends, what should be our New Year resolution that will help

us find Happiness?

To strip the soul of all pretence,To hold each day in reverence,To keep the head and heart apace,To make this world a worth-while place,To share our bread with those in need,To tolerate a neighbor’s creed,To keep a stride without a strut,To make a home in a mansion or hut,To have the grit to grin at loss,TO MASTER LIFE AND BE ITS BOSS!

Let’s Resolve

Let 2014 be the year you find your Happiness!

Thank you!