CDOQ

The happiest people are the ones not looking for happiness. 

Why do we want to be happy all the time? How will we recognize the feeling of happiness if we are happy all the time? Are feelings absolute?

I just finished reading a fantastic book, Damn Right ! It is about the life of one of my heroes, Charlie Munger . Since the search of happiness is causing a lot of misery in the world, I am writing this post to share Munger's four simple practices for a happy life. In most cases, the best way to solve a problem is to invert it. So, looking at the problem in reverse, the four things that would ensure an unhappy life are:   1. Be unreliable  2. Learn everything from your own experience rather than learning from others 3. Give up trying after your first, second, or third reverse of fortune 4. Give in to fuzzy thinking  Munger further shares Johnny Carson's speech explaining three things a person should do to ensure a miserable life. These are:  1. Ingesting chemicals in an effort to alter mood or perception  2. Allowing oneself to indulge in envy 3. Wallow in resentment  If you just don't exhibit the Carson's ...

The search for happiness is causing a lot of pain and misery in the world. A mind that is not seeking anything is very happy. 

If you stop caring about what others think and develop an independent mind, I guarantee that you will live a happy life. 

Why do we complain of Nature? She has shown herself kindly; life, if you know how to use it, is long. But one man is possessed by an avarice that is insatiable, another by a toilsome devotion to tasks that are useless; one man is besotted with wine, another with is paralyzed by sloth; one man is exhausted by an ambition that always hangs upon the decisions of others, another, driven on by the greed of the trader, is led over all lands and all seas by the hope of gain...many are kept busy either in pursuit of other men's fortune or in complaining of their own; many, following no fixed aim, shifting and inconstant and dissatisfied, are plunged by their fickleness into plans that are ever new; some have no fixed principle by which to direct their course, but Fate takes them unawares while they loll and yawn- so surely does it happen that I cannot doubt the truth of that utterance which is greatest of poets delivered with all the seeming of an oracle: "The part of life we really l...

My friend, Arun Chaba, recently gave a brilliant speech on Evolution & Human Behavior. The speech was titled, "All is Well". Following is the transcript: A friend of mine was about to become a daddy. For whatever reasons, his wife insisted that she wanted to have the baby born in her home town, where her mother would be around. My friend didn't want so. This was the cause of a serious conflict between them. A few months later, I read somewhere that humans are one of the few mammals who cannot have babies throughout their lives. About one third of their lives, human female cannot produce babies. During this time, because a woman doesn’t have to worry about producing and taking care of her own babies, she can concentrate on the well being of babies of her daughter and the chances of survival of new born babies multiply. This has given humans an evolutionary advantage. This phenomenon is called grandmother hypothesis and was first given by GC Williams in 1960s...

A man who understands yoga and practices it everyday, is never unhappy.

Everyone has problems.

Chetan Bhagat , is a novelist based in India. He recently gave a speech to welcome the new students at Symbiosis which is a management school in India. I found the speech very inspiring. Hence, I am sharing it with you. Please find below the text of the speech: --- Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you. This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your life. I am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when one is truly elated. The first day in college is one of them. When you were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates - there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it anothe...