We must remember that pain is just the other side of joy. If you avoid all possibilities to pain, you also block all avenues of happiness. It is like writing an examination. If you want to be absolutely sure that you don’t fail, you don’t write the examination. However, by doing so, you also block all your chances of success.

People seek new jobs, cars, music systems, televisions or house because they are tired of the existing ones. Their boredom gets alleviated when they are looking at the various options available in the market for these things and then trying to figure out the finance part of it—to buy it with down payment or EMI—and dreaming of the joy of having new things in their lives. However, their boredom is back again once they get used to their new acquisition.

There can’t be any formula for happiness because happiness is an effect and not a cause. The same activity, which at one time gave you happiness, may now become a source of suffering. Or often a great suffering ends up becoming a source of joy.

In order to bring lasting joy to our lives, we must harmonise the past, the present and the future. We must think about the past, be in the present but also visualise our future in a harmonious rhythm. When all three time dimensions are present in our life, we enjoy peace and happiness.

When we give something the world needs, it also gives us back what we need. This exchange creates a virtuous cycle that enhances our joy manifold.

When we take something and don’t pay the price for it, we are punished by the world for fraud, crime or corruption. Such punishment gives us pain in proportion to what we have taken illegitimately from the world. However, when we voluntarily refuse to take anything from the world while sharing what we have with it, we get praise and honour in return, and that gives us joy.

When we depend on the outside world for our happiness, there are billions of causes that can take away our joy. We need to find an anchor which can tie us to our happiness like a ship is tied to the shoreline. We need to board this big ship to achieve stability and protect ourselves from the uncertain waves of life.

We need to feel all the emotions as they appear without preferring one over the other. When we give preference to one and block out the way for the rest, we create imbalances in our emotions which eventually destroy our joy. When you forcefully stop yourself from hating, hate mounts with time and one day, when it bursts, it takes you by surprise and you end up committing great crimes.

When you are in harmony with others, life becomes a celebration because you can bring happiness to the lives of numerous people associated with you. The interdependence does not prick you as you love being with people and wish to make their lives better. When you give joy to others, you get back much more joy in your life