How to be Happy: The Only Way to be Truly Happy

There was a time when my 3-hour long, everyday commute used to make me unhappy. The bus was always jam-packed and the soaring temperature made the musty smell of sweating men worse. I used to lash out at anyone who pissed me off. I did all of those only because of a “long tiring day”. Then one day, I realized that there was little I could do about my situation so whining wasn’t going to change anything. That’s when I started to choose how I felt and what I did during the commute. I started seeing the 3-hour commute as an opportunity to learn and observe human behavior. I started reading books on my tablet, listening to audiobooks, talking to strangers, and even sleeping on the bus. I started to choose to be happy and the 3-hour commute was no longer a 3-hour commute.

Every great thinker will tell you that there is only one way to attain happiness. Literally, only one way to attain positivity. In the words of Eckhart Tolle from A New Earth:

“The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it.”

I have seen this apply to everything – from my experience to my family members suffering from cancer. Viktor Frankl’s masterpiece Man’s Search for Meaning has similar ideas of how some people are capable of mastering their thoughts even in concentration camps. It’s pretty safe to assume that almost every one of us has much better circumstances than found in a concentration camp. So there is literally no excuse for why we all shouldn’t have happiness in our lives. It’s time we realized that no matter how much we optimize our lives, we will never have control over the stimulus. However, the one thing no one can ever take away from us is our ability to choose our response. So choose to be happy.

If you’re looking to change your perspective on life, head on over to Jason Silva‘s channel Shots of Awe and Jay Shetty‘s channel Invisible World.