Happiness

What is happiness, and how can you attain it? These are the questions that have been lingering in my mind for years. Some define happiness as an emotional state of well-being while others simply defines happiness as feelings –feelings of joy, pleasure and contentment. Some say that happiness is when an individual make another individual feel happy, perhaps by helping that individual or by simply doing acts, often small acts such as giving flowers and wishing your neighbour good morning every day. Others stated that happiness is seeing another person happy, for instances watching small children playing with much joy or simply a friend who is smiling or laughing. People can be happy for various reasons, and these reasons vary from an individual to another individual. And one of the reasons that I would like to highlight in this essay here is closeness to the Creator of humans and the universe. 
As a Muslim, for me happiness is when you know that you prayed five times a day and you know deep in your heart that you did it because of your love to the Almighty, not because of your parents’ orders or because your friends told you to do so. For me, happiness is trying and learning to get closer to the one and only, knowing that with each knowledge that you obtain, your love for Him will grow and acknowledging that you are just a mere creation of Him, the Almighty. Happiness is realising that He, the Forgiving will forgive all your sins as long as you remain sincere and faithful to Him. The next part of the essay is the story of a man in his life journey to find happiness.
This man was born in a loving and wealthy family, where he was given everything he wanted. He was blessed with good health and a good looking face as well as an excellent attitude. He was raised with love and care, guided by kind and well-educated parents. Though many said that he lived a perfect life, he was unhappy. Deep in his heart, he felt hollow and empty. Thus, he went and searched for various ‘remedies’ to heal his heart – music, relationships, paintings, books, movies, sports – unfortunately, to no avail. He felt lost and he felt as if he was drowning, however when he looked around everybody seemed to be breathing fine. He continued living this way till the middle of high school, where his friends invited him to the world of hedonism, a world where pursuit of pleasure and self-indulgence are given the highest priority in life. He, being naïve was soon easily drowned by the pleasure offered by this world. Nonetheless, after a while, he began to feel shallower and hollower than before. As if all the girls he dated and all the friends he hanged out with were just temporary remedies for his pain. And this scenario continued till he graduated from high school, and furthered his study in a college. There, he met people from different backgrounds and different cultures. He befriended them, and soon a friend came to him and said “Hey you don’t look well. And I know your pain. Here’s the remedy you’ve been searching for.” while giving him a gift wrapped with mathematics answer sheet. He was happy with the unexpected gift, and opened him. Much to his surprise, he was given the Holy Quran and its translation, for him to read and appreciate. 
He started reading the Quran and found the remedy for his sick heart. He started learning to know his Creator and His Messengers, and as time passed by, his heart started to heal. He no longer feel empty or hollow deep in his heart, knowing that the Lord will guide his ways. He cried for his dark past, hoping that Lord will forgive him and guides his new path. He became friends and acquaintances with those who love God more than he is, and learn from them. And in his new journey, he found peace in his heart, the peace that he has been searching for since the beginning of his life. 
It was never easy for him in the beginning, as he had to abandon his old way of living. However, Lord is kind to those who seek to Him, and He had given him a rather easy path to walk, with trustworthy companions to guide his journey. He has not yet arrived at his destination, the paradise, but he is now in the right track. When asked by his former friends of his changes, he replied with a smile, a genuine one and said “I have been lost for years, living my life only for the sake of living, not knowing what to do. But He found me and guided me, and now I am living my life to the fullest, under His guidance.”
In short, obeying God sometimes seems like the hardest road to take, but in the long run, it is the only lifestyle that brings real peace and genuine joy. Indeed, only by obeying your God will you find true happiness.