Socrat and His Happiness

Socrates lived in a very small house with a number of his students. The house was so narrow so much so that they can hardly have a good place for resting and conversation. However, Socrates was happy. His neighbor asked him why he was so happy living in such a small house. He said, “The students are my friends. Isn’t it a great pleasure living with friends?” After a few years, his student graduated and left one by one. At a point in time, he lived in the house alone. Anyhow, he was still a happy man and this puzzled the neighbor again. The neighbor approached him and asked, “Well, your house is vacant now. Why are you still happy?” He answered, “Well, I have many teachers in my house now – the books.”

Happiness is subject to the state of mind, not environment. In the toughest time, there is beauty in it, subject to your state of mind, too. Artists are trained to see beauty in the objects of their drawing topics even though they live and draw in a very harsh environment. This is indeed the objective of Art.

When we face the challenges in life, why some people attach the challenges with pain but some take it as a game of cheese? No doubt that we all come from different background and possess our distinctive attributes, both inherited or influenced by our living environment and past experiences. This may cause us to have different interpretation to the issues in hands, I trust that we have choices - our choices in selecting our state of mind and our response to such challenges.

There are numerous definitions in “Insanity”. However, the definition that is widely accepted is the emotional attachment to some external factors. Why do we attach so much pain or pleasure and see things as indispensable? May be we cannot live without our hearts, lungs and other important organs but is the issue in hand is indeed indispensable?

Imagine, due to your superiority in competency, wealth or knowledge, your competitors and superiors are jealous and make attempts to pin you down and victimize you. This is because they sense the potential threat that you may bring about that jeopardizes their interests and positions. If they do not victimize you, their pride, livelihood and position will be at risks. This is an ecology which complies the Law of Nature. If you put a group of rats in a cage with limited food, they will response in similar manner in order to survive, too. Political rivalry exists in each and every organization. This is unavoidable. So, what are your choices now? Be an eagle to fly freely in the wilderness? Entrap yourselves and fight for survival in the cage? Or look for a place without rivalry which is rather impossible? This is all subject to your priority in your heart…