Monday, February 05, 2007

WHO’S HAPPIER?



Life is about struggling and striving. Life is about fighting. And winning! Life is about enjoying good living; to certain extent we might want to indulge ourselves in flashy, exorbitance and luxurious livelihood for good measure.

When I am at the apogee of my own easy-me-philosophy, I would say to myself, luxurious living is just like when you are holding your pee for hours that your bladder is about to burst and there you are at the toilet bowl enjoying it with the eyes closed in ecstasy, hence, you don’t want to trade for anything else in this world. Luxurious that is.

Perhaps, it’s not luxury as what luxury is but what luxury would bring.

Since I am not trained to be that sophisticated in life, I have a feeling that I can enjoy my RM 10 better than others spending their RM 100. May be I can sleep soundly and wake up happily in a master bedroom of my 2-storey end-lot terrace house in Saujana Utama than an opulent waking up in his flush bedroom overlooking a swimming pool in his 3-and-a-half storey mansion in Country Heights.

Or may be he is actually far happier, and I am only a fool for being imbecile and moronic for thinking that way? He could be relishing for his fine champagne at the back of his chauffeured driven stretch, laughing, while I’d be busy checking on possibilities of meeting him with his secretary to knock a deal or two.

Or may be the unpretentious chap with 7 small kids without shirts sleeping in a hall with mosquito coils stop burning, in the slump of a squatter area in Keramat, is waking up a happier person?

Who knows, may be an indigenous man of Orang Asli tribe deep in the jungle of Gombak wakes up in his makeshift hut to the traces of the aroma of last night's roasted wild boar in the fire and yet have a whole world in his grip, the whole universe funneling into him? Happier!

Happiness, in a sense of word, it is too broad a scale for one to rap it up cleverly. A banal line of cliché we often heard, happiness is subjective and hence, definition-wise, it is an emotional state that is characterized by feelings of enjoyment and satisfaction. A great philosopher, Aristotle, stated that happiness is the only thing that humans desire for its own sake. Men sought riches not for the sake of being rich, but to be happy. Those who sought fame desired it not to be famous, but because they believed fame would bring them happiness.

In the context, I think it is the same thing when I was in my stride having my dinner with “ulam” and “ike tawar” to go with “budu”. And... I love “ike singge” and “ikan rebus goreng” too – I’ll put aside those lobsters. If I were to equate to what I understand philosophically, it’s not the things I eat that make me happy but the enjoyment and satisfaction of eating those that makes me happy.

But nothing compared to the time when you are all alone with God in the middle of a quiet night crying and weeping on the prayer mat with a tinge of hope for forgiveness for the sins you had done and God trades you up with special feelings for you to go on living.

Are you a happy person? And what makes you happy?

21 comments:

mommy@lif said...

i am a happy person when
my husband and son are happy & healthy
my parents are sehat & ceria

yes, i'm very much affected with what loved ones around me are feeling. it (the feeling)'s contagious i guess

Izariza said...

Tuan Gab,

Life doesn't need to be too perfect, doesn't need to be too rich, doesn't need to be too famous ~ as long as friends remember, it is more than enough :)

Anonymous said...

I choose to be simple & practical in life. At the same time, still adjusting here & there. Family and close frens... they are source of my happiness. Unfortunately, the situation limits me most of the time :(
And thanks to remind me...to smile. The photo is cute & very encouraging.

Anonymous said...

I once read a saying that goes :

A perfect husband is someone who does not expect a perfect wife. And vice versa

Happiness to me means having it all - the good and bad - and at the end of a crappy day, I know my Brood are there to love me, worts and all.

I am happy, very very happy with what I have today.

Anonymous said...

Alhamdulillah.. i am happpy and contented with what i have..

A smile from my 2 angels n my hayatım is enough to make me happy...

Kak Elle said...

I am happy as I am now and can't ask for more:)a job,an apartment called my own and paid for,healthy and most important alhamdulillah and bersyukur dgn apa yg ada:)

ManaL said...

Sir,

ONE way of seeing it is by comparing our life with those who are more unfortunate than us in as many circumstances as possible including health, what we have and the place/country we are in.

Hmmm...byk sebenarnya...there is happy sbb lega (for eg: sembuh daripada penyakit or lpas qadha' hajat), happy sbb we are relatively better, happy sbb grateful to god, happy sbb we r loved by those we love, happy sbb we get what we wanted, and those bad happy ones like happy atas kesusahan org lain and so on.

Lotsa money but no love,not getting some good loving,lonely and suffering from illness pun wont make one happy too.

My simple sheer happiness comes from feeling loved, those moments when i finally get what i really work hard for, prayers answered, enjoying a fine tub of ice-cream on a lovely day watching good/fav movies or while enjoying a breathtaking scenery.

Idham said...

:) yes i am happy - thanks for asking. Happiness is when - someone wants to know whether or not i am happy.

ike singge! aduh GAB - sedakkk tuh weyyy...

idham

Anonymous said...

i am not happy for what goes on around the world - senseless wars, senseless raping and killing of children, famine and genocide.

i am not happy on senseless govt spending on unnecessary things like the pm's yacht, renovation on the agong's istana and what nots but we dont get school textbooks loan as promised (promises are meant to be broken no??) becoz some damn book dealers afraid they're out of jobs and business?? blah blah blah...so many unhappys lah.

on a personal note, i'm gratefully blessed fr i still have a place to live, foods to eat and clothes to wear, beautiful children to cherish and love and a husband whose love and faith for me is still intact..hehehe!

Jo Kontan said...

I am Happy !.

But for me, in order to cherish happiness, one must really embrace sadness, only then, one can appreciate the highs.

Zack, Happy Sokmo dok jadiii..

~ GAB ~ said...

MOMMY ALIF --> I've read what happy is happy for you in your blog and glad you have a good life.



IZA --> I am echoing what you have said IZA. So much said about perfection thing but nothing in this world can be as perfect.



KOPI O --> No happiness is a happiness we can take for granted, adjusting here and there is a must for everyone. To be simple & practical in life is always the best choice even though sometimes we are caught in complicated situations that demand us not to be that simple and we are in vain to make it as practical as possible.



MAK ANDEH --> You are such a practical person for having a thought of happiness to meean as having it all - the good and bad. And you are blessed with the broods that make you happy.



SIMAH --> Ahhh... so refreshing to know a blogger friend far away in Istanbul having good life. And happy, despite of having to leave the homeland for the loved ones.



KAK ELLE --> What more can be happy to me too when I am dealing with a matured lady like you who knows what life is all about. Perhaps you've passed your LIFE101 with flying colors back then.



MANAL --> Comparing our life with those who are more unfortunate than us is in a way will make us grateful, yes.

The list will go on and on for you to describe how happy you are and am glad reading those.


IDHAM --> :-) And in turn, Happiness comes in flods to me when I wanna know how happy my friend is and knowing he is actually happy, plus, even happy when someone wants to know whether he is happy or not.

Manyak happy nya!

Ike singge? Oh boy, no words can describe it. hehehe




KC --> We are living in harsh world. Even just a few days ago in our place that I thought will be peaceful with good people living in it and yet, shooting happened. Politics? Well. you know it too well. How can we be happy with those elements beyond our control?

To the very least we can claim ourselves happy as far as our personal life is concerned. Congrats to you.




JOKONTAN --> JO, you are wity in that sense. I agree with you on the contrasts of it that make us appreciate what good is good, what happy is happy. Thanks to the benchmarks we have. Without those, our lives can be very dull, indeed.

NorAiniJ said...

Mr Governor Sir,

I am glad I found your blog here (I decided to ‘follow you home’ after your visit to my beta blog).

Back to the topic of your latest entry… We seem to be living in a world of bad news nowadays, every day seems to be occupied with miseries. Sometimes I just feel like not reading papers or watching TV. Yet, I believe there are always more blessings than problems and that is what I need to focus on. Looking at the less fortunate around the world, I am happy to say that I am very very happy to be a Malaysian living in Malaysia.

BTW, I love reading your entries, I am definitely tagging your blog as one of my favourites.

anggerik merah said...

Sir Gab,

I am happy to be surrounded by family, friends and virtual friends too...

Nice entry!

Unknown said...

Hi Gab,

I have learnt that to be happy is after all quite simple. It is all about us deciding to wanna just be happy.

I am happy

When I wake up (all excitement to get into the day's activities)

When I hit the pillow to sleep ( sheer bliss)

When hubby whips up his scrumptious mee mamak on some weekends (finger licking good)

When my sons give me un-birthday presents, just un-because..

When I get my sotong bakar, yeah, the Jln Gurney one from Penang, yes the one where they tenderise it by hitting it on the cobbler's contraption..just seeing that action is happiness already..ha ha (well this is high happiness as I do not go to Penang often enough)

When I go to San Francisco for my latte (that's quite often..so I'm happy many times in a week on this account)

When any baby anywhere stares at me endlessly with a smile (I get that often)

When any cat snuggles up my feet (I love cats)

When my loved ones manja me when I'm down with anything

When I hit the movies (getting more often now)

When I need a new dress and hubby would pick up something from the rack and says this one suits you (often, I always end up getting what hubby picks, he has good eyes)



Well, to sum up Gab, when I add up all the good the bad and the ugly put together, insy, I have decided to be happy lah..he he.

m i n e r a l . . . said...

happy.. im always happy (smile) walaupun ketika nk berkhatan, ketika kereta kesygan eksiden, ketika disabotaj... sedih di permulaan senyum sebagai penawar plg baik...redha dan perbaiki seadanyer.

lakukan sesuatu dengan hati yg ikhlas pasti menggembirankan...apatah lagi ia melibatkan org disekeliling, kepuasan yg sukar dibayangkn.

UglyButAdorable said...

what makes me happy?

i guess i'm always happy la bro gab depsite anything that come..happy i must be..

jaketbiru said...

happy??... try ler tolak motor 535cc with flat tyre in the middle of hiway in mid afternoon with the sun smiling on you..hehehehe..

dont worry.. be happy..gab ada..

((if in pouring rain associated with lighting.. and the water is raising.. and ...at mid night..lagi haru kan gab kan??))

~ GAB ~ said...

Sorry guys, only today I have the opportunity to reply...



NORAINIJ --> The underlined point you have there is, we are of the lucky group of people to be opportuned to belong to our country where many others suffered more than we can ever imagined. Hey, good to know you are happy with your life and grateful to we have in hands.

A big honour for me to be tagged. And...Warm Welcome for you to my blog.



ANGGERIK MERAH --> You sure have a good family when you can find solace in being around with them. You must be friendly as well I supposed when you are spiked up to be around friends. Enjoy your life AM!



RUBY AHMAD --> WOW...You said all that. Offhand you can write what happy is happy to you, you must then a real happy person. I knew it Ruby... I knew it. Fom the wrting you have, today and before (in your blog) I can see what kind of motivations you have. Go girl!




TUN --> The good natured persons will not easily influenced by the adversities. I remember that was written in my favourite book of all time for its class, Psychocybernetic, it says; those are all temporary and once we passed through, we'd look back as a part of our life comedy.



UBA --> That's the spirit! Don't let all the negatives stopping you from being happy. Feeling down for a while is only human. To be dwelling over is too human until it becomes emotional. And emotional is a radical in thinking straight. Without straight thinking, how can we be happy? Have a good life my dear.




CYANIDE --> Wekekeke... I know you man. I know you for years already. You are hell of a happy dude. Have a good family... nice and beautiful wife, good career and interesting hobby. Erkk... Love to borrow your big bike for run on Guthrie Highway. I wanna touch 220 km/h for at least 10 seconds.

Theta said...

To paraphrase my husband's wise words:
"Being happy is a conscious decision. It's either you decide to be happy or you don't"

This blog encapsulates the conscious decision part perfectly.

Have a great day everyday!

~ GAB ~ said...

THETA --> Somehow I just know when I am dealing with a person with certain exposures in life. The way they look into life mainly are very positive in nature. And yes, very much agree to the words of wisdom by your hubby. And thanks again for coming.

IBU said...

ada orang tanya ibu once, why so busy yet always seem happy-go-lucky? hmmm.... i happily answered, i choose to be happy & to feel happy. ok kan?

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