Life is not easy nowadays. Many factors would make us low in spirits, depressed or even desperate: not getting along well with the people you have to deal with, being scolded for the bad scores at school, not able to find a dream boyfriend or girlfriend, no money to buy what you wish to, having to do a boring lousy job, no prospect of being promoted… the list can go on and on.

Society develops, and so does our material life. However, we don’t seem to be any happier, at least for some of us and for some periods of time. Looking back upon the 1970s and beyond, we will see it used to be so easy for us to get happy and content. That was an age when one had to consider where the next meal came from and one’s spiritual demands were relatively low. However, the progress in material life does not bring us the happiness we expected. Why is that?

The reason, I guess, is our insatiable desire for more. It is the driving force of social development, and also the root cause of our being not-so-happy. We will never be satisfied when we have earned one million, for we tend to compare ourselves with others who are always better than us. We don’t like being told to do things, but deep in our hearts, we wish to give orders. All of those could cause the unbalanced state of mind.

The first step, in my humble opinion, is to learn to be content with what we have and what we are able to get. Anyway, we can’t do everything or have whatever we want to. We should realize the fact that everyone is unique and occupy a certain place in society. Each of us is special but we are not talented in everything. And this social division of labor is natural and necessary. We should always have dreams, and strive to make them come true. But we should bear in mind that our goals should be realistic and some of the dreams may take time and patience as well as hard work.

As a matter of fact, happiness is just a state of mind, having no direct connection with money or social status. Is a billionaire sure to be happier than a common street vendor? Not necessarily so. Wealth and power can make us happy, but it is temporary, not lasting at all. Therefore, the key to true happiness is to manage our moods and moderately control our desires and ambitions. We can only try to make the best of what we have. I’m sure if we can make peace with ourselves, a peaceful state of mind can be obtained.

Actually, most of our dreams/ambitions are self-oriented, mostly self-development plans. Can we change for another way of living? Have you ever realized that we should be thankful for many things? Just learn to be grateful for the fact we are much more fortunate than many other people in the world. For me, I’m thankful for being still alive, and basically healthy. I should be thankful for being able to put food on the table. I should be thankful for already having so much like a new house and a good family. I’m thankful that in just several days I’ll have a new car. I should also be thankful for the misbehavior of kids, for it gives me a chance to reconsider the teaching methods I’m using now.

I believe true happiness of life lies in giving not receiving. By helping people in need, we also receive something in return, only in the form of spiritual satisfaction. Knowing that you’re of some help to others, knowing that the world has changed a little bit for the better because of our efforts and contributions, either materially, physically or emotionally, we will surely feel the true happiness in our hearts. It is a truly happy state of mind and more importantly, it is long-lasting, for it is a fulfillment of our personal value.