In my opinion, the most overrated thing in life is the notion of happiness. Tons of books have been written about it, and I can see that those authors are indeed a happy lot of people, for obvious reason.

Of course, I do not judge those who put happiness as the most important thing in their life, and I think there is nothing wrong with that. However, I think life is more than that.

I do see many people who will do all kind of things to chase after the illusive state of happiness they perceived they should have. I think many of us have experienced working so hard to get what we think will make us happy, only to find that we need something else. The more we try, the more frustrated we get.

I dare to say, the pursuit of happiness is the root of all unhappiness.

It’s better to choose to be contented, to find meaning in what we do, to  find fulfillment in life, than being just happy.

If we focus on living, happiness will come naturally. Happiness, is an inner state, which can not be fully expressed outwardly, but yet it manifests itself as a powerful drive to live meaningfully, even it means hardship at times.

I derived most of my values from biblical values, but I choose not to populate my blog entries with all kind of Bible verses, just to make them seems more right than what they are. However, today I will make an exception as I am constantly being reminded that “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Act 20:35), and I think I have live long enough to experience how true this is. After all, whatever we receive, ultimately will be taken away from us. “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” (2 Corinthians 9:6-15). I am constantly being reminded of great people like Mother Teresa who lived a fulfilled life, with hardship, in exchanged of a ‘happy’ comfortable life.

This is the first article of my new blog, and i hope to write more in the future. What I think, what I feel, are not cast in stones. My thoughts are constantly changing, constantly improving (hopefully), and to me life is a journey of learning and discovery, I will never know what i will find.

For that, constructive feedback and comments are much appreciated.

Some people think I am being too complicated, but to me I think I am a very simple person. I do not want to waste my life just following the crowd. I rather to have a fulfilled life, to enjoy what I do, even if it means hardship, even if it means to make myself unhappy sometimes.

What is the point of being happy, and live without purpose? For that, I rather being alive, than being merely happy.