Happy Living is Balanced Living!
gopimenon June 10th, 2010
I feel that the essence of Happy Living is to do everything in balance.
Whether it is material, intellectual or spiritual pursuits it is essential that we don’t overdo or ‘under-do’ any one thing. Sayings such as ‘the happy mean’, the ‘mid-path’ and so on, all refer to balanced living.
Repression is just as bad as over-indulgence. It is often said that ‘too much of a good thing is bad’, but we sometimes tend to forget that ‘too little of a good thing’ is also bad!
We are well aware of the problems of over-indulgence and repression when it comes to food – obesity, anorexia and bulimia!
It is absolutely fine to enjoy your food but eating too much leads to obesity and its associated problems of ill-health. Despite the cliche of the ‘jolly rotund man’, obesity does not make for happy living.
Similarly eating too little (excessive fasting) or avoiding good food leads to emaciation and in the worst case scenario – eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia!
The same logic applies to work and play situations. ‘All work and no play’ leads to stress and frustration with all the accompanying ills. Some people in this category end up in hospital with heart attacks, while others need psychiatric help for mental depression. If only they had balanced their work, with vacations and time for the family and friends, then such problems could have been avoided.
Similarly ‘all play and no work’ leads to boredom which is just as problematic. Some resort to life threatening sports to compensate for their boredom while others even consider suicide as a solution! All for lack of balance in their lives!
This principle of ‘balance’ applies even to so-called selfless actions such as community service, charity work and so on. Too much of ‘selfless service’ without any thought for personal needs is just as bad as being selfish and over-indulgent! There must be a balance between the needs of the body, the mind and the spirit! Overdoing any one to the detriment of the other does not make for Happy Living.
Repressing our sex instincts (e.g. catholic priests) is just as bad as over-indulging (e.g. Tiger Woods) etc. A little wine is good … too much may give you a hangover!…
All these problems (bulimia, stress, depression, sex-addiction, alcoholism, anorexia, obesity, etc.) come about because of a lack of balance in our lives. The main culprit for these imbalances are the ‘false teachings’ and religious doctrines that seem to control all of our lives.
So called learned figures claim they know what we should do and what we should refrain from doing and even the amounts and ratio…. But the truth is God knows better and He has programmed us far better to do the right things (if only we have faith in our own intuition ..
We are too afraid to question these ‘questionable teachings’ because they have been given an aura of ‘sacredness’!
We are afraid to use our God given will power and intellect in choosing the best possible ways to live – so that Happy Living can truly become a way of life. Instead we always give in to those so-called ‘gurus’ or prophets who claim to know everything – the past, present & the future. But the only one who knows all the past, all the present and all the future is God – not any man who claims himself to be a specially chosen one of God!
To be continued…
- happiness , happy living , pursuit of happiness , unhappiness
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