In my opinion, stereotyping or profiling will go down in history as one of the biggest crime ever committed against humanity. The saddest part is that no one will be arrested for it, even though the damage it has caused is next to non.
Those who came before us, and those who are placed above us, have created a box in an attempt to box all of us in.
They have created a sample and a blueprint for virtually everything in the planet. Happiness is not excluded from the list. Now, they have successfully sold their idea of happiness to everyone, just as they have done for other things.
Until the generally accepted standard is met, it appears as though you have got no right to be happy.
You have been programmed, even without your knowledge into thinking that it's a criminal offence to be happy when certain conditions are yet to be met.
My childhood experience lays credence to this fact.
I grew up in an environment, where it was abominable for the fatherless to laugh out loud.
Bloom wasn't meant for the doomed. Doomy and gloomy demeanour was what the society expected from the have-nots.
No! I'm not making this up for writing's sake. I have got a first hand experience. I was scolded for my inability to properly mourn the death of my loved one.
My kid brother whose innocence should have been protected was rather exposed to this harsh reality. I remember someone saying these exact words to him in a mocking tone;
"I can't see what is making you happy..."
That statement was meant to stop him from looking cheerful. As far as the society is concerned, a fatherless kid shouldn't be cheerful.
I grew up in a society where victims were coached on how to further victimize themselves.
These actions led me into asking these questions;
"does anyone own a copyright to happiness? Is there a thing like the plagiarism of happiness?"
The very thought of it is absurd. Isn't it?
How then have we given people the authority to detect to us when and how to be happy?
Yes, we have all been victims of this at some point.
We have truncated and stifle our happiness on the premise that some societal standard for happiness is not yet met.
We have closed our eyes to the beautiful things of life on the grounds that life is yet to give us what it never promised.
If you must know, life promised you nothing. Not even itself.
Isn't it interesting to know that life itself isn't promised?
If I were to pull off my church lens, it will appear as though death is more certain than life.
Life promised us death. How ironic!
That little revelation up there isn't meant to make you sad, but to strip off every sense of entitlement from you.
Sense of entitlement is one of the chiefest cause of unhappiness. When you know that you're not entitled to anything, you will begin to be grateful for everything, no matter how minute it might appear. And a grateful heart is a happy being.
Life is personal, so is happiness.
Our fight is different. Our demons are not the same.
One person needs a wife to be happy, while another is clamouring for a divorce just so that he could be happy.
One wants a child for his joy to be full, to another, his child is the sole cause of his unrest.
One needs a car, while another lost a leg from driving his'.
One is striving for abundance, while another is in the hospital bay, only trying to stay alive.
To the person who is on the verge of losing his life, nothing matters but the very breath we count as nothing.
Create your own happiness.
Life promised us nothing but we we can promise ourself something.
I pledged to myself long ago to always be happy as much as I can. You too can make the same pledge.
Being happy is not just a goal for me, but a lifestyle I endeavour to maintain. There's this friend of mine, that would quickly apologize to me after pulling off one of her antics. She will however quickly want to take back the apologies after realizing that I wasn't in anyway perturbed by her mischievousness.
Maintaining a gay disposition come what may, is achievable. The person writing this is an ardent practitioner.
I don't want to draw an unpragmatic conclusion by totally dissociating happiness from some external factors.
While it is very true that you are chiefly responsible for your own happiness, there is however things that enhance or catalyze one's state of happiness. Such enhancement do stem from a sense of achievement. We do take pride in things we are able to accomplish.
I don't see anything wrong with that, save for the fact that we do rate our achievements with that of others. As a result we end up ignoring our seeming little blessings because it does not appear as glamorous as another person's own. Such unhealthy comparison is the bedrock of unhappiness.
I'm not against having big dreams, mine isn't in anyway small. What I'm however instigating is that, inorder for us to remain happy, we must be grateful for our seeming little wins.
We can still make it to the top while being grateful for the steps we have been able to make so far.
If all you achieved today was staying alive, be yet grateful, because you've been offered another opportunity to try again. Such opportunity is golden. It is not common to all men.
Just saying that, despite the situation, you have got the right to be happy. Let no one tell you otherwise.
This is my entry for proof of brain word of the week contest, initiated by 
