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Most people will agree with me when I say that being happy is simultaneously the easiest thing and the most difficult thing.  While some find happiness in the simplest of things, there are others who are unhappy even when they have almost everything.  It’s no surprise, therefore, that the search for happiness is one of man’s oldest quests. 

Today’s man is no different.  We are always striving to be happier than we were the day before.  But, unfortunately we don’t always succeed.  In reality, we are mostly less happier than we were the day before because the past is usually remembered with fondness, and the present always seems like a tough time.  So, here are three things that I am doing to be happy, and you can try them too. 

Do a course on Happiness

My present chain of thoughts was set in motion when I recently received an email from Coursera, a resource to take the world’s best courses online.  One of the courses that the Coursera bots had recommended for me was, “A Life of Happiness and Fulfillment”.  The title of the course was eye-catching and I decided to check it out.  Dr. Rajagopal Raghunathan, the man behind the course, asks a simple but relevant question in the beginning itself, “If you are so smart, why aren’t you happy?”  That resonated with me, and I thought this was a course worth taking up, and I did. 

I am sure there are many other resources like that on the Internet.  You can look them up and join any of them.  I think it would be even better if you can find something like that in real life.  Since I live in a small town, I have no choice but to look for online alternatives. 

Watch some TED videos on Happiness

If you are a follower of this blog, you may know that I am a fan of the TED videos, especially the ones they put up on the site during their early days.  Some of the TED videos are simply mind-blowing, and they have a lot of videos that deal with the subject of happiness. 

To give you an idea of what you can expect on the site, I am going to share Dan Gilbert’s, “The Surprising Science of Happiness” (which also happens to be one of my favorite TED videos on the subject) here:

Read some books on Happiness

The search for happiness is one of man’s oldest quest, and writing is one of the oldest form of communication.  So, it should come as no surprise that some of the best advice on the subject can be found in books. 

The thing, however, is that there are some many books on the subject that it is difficult to choose which ones to read.  And I can assure you that not all books on the subject are worth reading.  Today, instead of creating my own list (which I might create someday) I am going to trust some the experts and create a small list of the best lists of happiness books out there:

It is easy to feel that happiness is an elusive entity, and that we won’t be able to find it, but if we do some of the things that I have mentioned here, I am sure we will be happier people.  Wouldn’t you agree?