The paradox of pursuing happiness..

I posted this on Facebook and it seems that many people agree with this phrase that I read in a book.

"The three components of happiness are : 

something to do, someone to love, 

and something to look forward to."

As we all can see for ourselves, this world is filled with many(a bit too many) people who are very unhappy with their lives. But why? The world seems to be getting richer and richer, from footballers who earn millions of pounds a week to bank CEOs who get 80% increments + millions as their annual bonus. The world has never seen so much money. So, if what Malcolm Forbes says is true, that "Anyone who thinks that money can't buy happiness is shopping in the wrong places", then many of us should actually be laughing all day long. 



The sad thing about this is that what we witness couldn't be more different to what theory dictates.



The writer defines "something to do" as work that we are passionate about. Many people get so bored with their jobs because it was never their passion to begin with.



So if you manage to find something to do which you absolutely enjoy,
if you have love all around you - parents, siblings, that special someone, or your children,
and if you have something look forward to - a nice vacation to enjoy the fruit of your labor, for example..
Then I believe that you can't say that you are unhappy. 



I would love to be able to tell all the unhappy people...
Please don't sacrifice your relationships and time with your loved ones for work.
Never get into that cycle where you lose track of whether you work to live or live to work.



I truly wish that someone can learn something from this, just like how I did. Wishing all of you happiness and love in your lives...=)  





p/s: I always put in the title after I've finished writing a blog post..and I just typed "The pursuit of happiness" and realised what a paradox it is....Will we ever be able to stop pursuing and just let happiness come?