What does it mean to be a happy person? Not a single holiday wish is complete without the word “happiness”. We all want to be happy, so we wish the same to other people. At least once in the life of any person, reflections on the topic of happiness attend. We are well aware that everyone has their own.
What does it mean to be happy for a small child? Dry, warm, tasty, safe - I sleep peacefully, smile at my mother, grow up. It is worth it to be alone, to feel a little alarm - happiness has never happened.
What does it mean to be happy for a first grader? A beautiful briefcase with notebooks, classmates, games and toys. And also a goldfish in the form of beloved parents who fulfill any desire.
What does it mean to be happy for a teenager? Fashionable clothes, pretty girlfriend, fun party. And do not forget about the material support of the "ancestors".
What does it mean to be happy for a child living in an orphanage? It is to see mom every day, hug her. The child doesn’t care that mom sometimes drinks, brings strangers to the house. The main thing is to be with her, the only mother, to live in a family, and not with the same disadvantaged children.
And then we grow up, we become adults. Our needs are changing. And all his life is dedicated to catching momentary happiness: buy a new model car, go to the sea or make your colleagues envy you. Someone has one need - just to survive in this tough society. In general, everyone has their own happiness - according to their needs.
Today, many know the pyramid of needs of A. Maslow. At the base are physiological needs, which include thirst, hunger, sex drive and others. Then, rising to the top, there are needs for security, for belonging and love, for respect. Even higher are cognitive needs, aesthetic. Crowns the pyramid - the need for self-knowledge, self-realization in society. At each step, a person feels happy if his need is satisfied.
But why did A. Maslow single out only self-directed needs? Unfortunately, today in our society it is this principle of happiness that is cultivated. Advertising, movies, television, magazines affirm the value of pleasure. There is pleasure - a person is happy, there is no pleasure - unhappy. It all comes down to satisfying needs, not the highest, but rather the lowest. But to satisfy your need is instantaneous happiness.
Frankly speaking, deep down in our hearts we feel that happiness is something else, eternal. Like love, the concept of which is also reduced to the lowest level of needs.
However, love is a Christian value. God is love. Christ Himself showed that love is a decision, not a feeling. And it is expressed not in self-satisfaction, but in a constructive life for the sake of another person.
The words "I love you" without concrete deeds will remain just an empty phrase. Those who at least once saw the joy and happiness of a loved one created by your hands will agree with me. These happy eyes remain in memory forever, they support in a moment of despondency, failure. Satisfying the needs of another - is not this happiness that has eternal meaning?
Caring, mercy, charity combined with love bring happiness not only to the afflicted, but also to those who help, love.
You will say that all this is too global, not for me. And the relationship in the family, in a married couple? What happiness do they bring? If a man and a woman love to satisfy their own flesh, desires, needs, then this happiness will not last long. Until the first serious quarrel. But a love relationship built on the Christian principle will fill your home with happiness. To love, so that beloved or beloved bring happiness, joy. And to be happy is to love.