Nityanand Charan Das: The Secret to Happiness Lies in Giving, Not Getting

Nityanand Charan Das, a spiritual leader, has a powerful story to tell about happiness. In this story, a teacher instructed each student to receive a balloon, inflate it, put his or her name on it, and throw it into the hallway. The teacher then blended all the balloons, and students were asked to search for their own balloon within five minutes. Nevertheless, in spite of all they could do, none of the students was able to locate his or her balloon.

A Change of Attitude

When the students' quest did not yield any results, the teacher proposed a simple but deep solution. The teacher instructed the students to take any balloon they could find and hand it over to the owner whose name was on it. Within five minutes, every student had his or her own balloon. The teacher then continued, "These balloons are like happiness. We will never find it if we're only looking for our own. But if we think about helping others, we'll find our own happiness too."

Happiness is About Giving, Not Just Getting

The teacher's message is clear: pursuing happiness on our own is not enough. Instead, real happiness comes from making other people happy. We discover that happiness comes back to us when we stop thinking about our own happiness and begin to make others happy. This story serves as an example of how sharing happiness makes us happier.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Nityanand Charan Das | Spirituality (@nityanand_charan_das)

The Circle of Happiness

Life is not a quest for individual happiness in solitude. Life is about finding happiness together and sharing it with others. The next time you think you are looking for happiness, try to give it away first. When you help other people find happiness, you might just find it yourself in the process. Genuine happiness comes complete when we love others.