MAN VS ANIMALS: FORMULA OF SUCCESS LAYS IN MAN’S INNATE TRAITS.

MAN VS ANIMALS: FORMULA OF SUCCESS LAYS IN MAN’S INNATE TRAITS.

PROF WAQAR HUSSAIN

                  Have you ever observed the difference between man and animals? If “not” then lie on an arm chair, close your eyes, start thinking, differences will automatically pour in your mind one by one, you just jot down and make a list. I did the same and made a list:

1: Hands and Intelligence:

               No other specie of animal has the blessing of hands and intelligence. Biologists say “man is super creature due to well-built mandible (lower jaw) and strong femur (thigh bone). The strength of lower jaw enabled man to keep his head erect. See heads of all mammals are pointing downward or at least in a straight line. None has an upright head. Only man is gifted with straight vertical head which enabled it brain to grow and develop. Ultimately, it builds up to a level, giving the extraordinary power of intelligence. Most animals have brain and intelligence but have no match with man.

             The strong femur enabled him to stand straight on two limbs (legs). As a result, his two front limbs (arms) became free and paved the way for development of hands and arms. Human hands are tool kit. You can use them as tweezers, pliers, screw, hammer, squeezer, etc and can take many functions: to scratch, pick, squeeze, slap, grab, point, pluck, clench, tap, rub etc. A hand can perform more than 100 different functions .So the prime difference, between man and animals, is that of hands and intelligence.

2: Communication skill:

                 Only man can talk, other animal just utter a noise with a little meaning. But man can speak and express thoughts, feeling, experiences, needs, etc. in elaborated manner. Furthermore, there are more than 2700 modes of speaking commonly referred as language. While donkey brays, dog barks, monkey chatters, apes gibbers, camel grunts, bull bellows, etc. Cry of animal is monotonous. Then, man has greater variety of uttering ranging from noisy to a melodious one. Next melodic tones have greater number of allotropy and genre; classical, pop, rock, rap, folk, jazz, blues, Latin Music, opera, inspirational, religious dedication, etc. After that each category has millions of items. Furthermore, man can pronounce the cries of all animal perfectly after a little practice.

3: Power of decision.

             Man has the quality to decide. His mind thinks compares and contrasts the options and then comes up with a viable decision. Other animal has limited decision power that too regarding hunger, sex and existence.

4: Planning:

                 Man makes plans to meet his objectives. He makes sketches, ranging from the next moment to the next century. Animal’s planning is too limited to be ignored.

5: Pleasure seeker:

              Man is the only specie who enjoys and the prime objective of his life is to acquire happiness. Animal don’t enjoy much. Mostly do not enjoy even sexual activity exempting a few like monkey, dolphin, etc.

6: Power of expression:

             Man has special power of expression. Keeping aside the speaking facility, man has many other tools to express; he can raise his shoulder, nod (up and down), blink his eyes, raise his eye brows, shake his head (right or left), point his finger, open his arms, bend to knee, prostrate, raise his arms, open his fingers, wave his hands, put hands together, put head on his shoulder, squatter, etc. All express his feelings, emotions and physical conditions. By just using his face, he can make dozens of expressions like smile, frown, sneer, pout, wince, leer, blink, gape, wink, etc. Even during sleep; his body posture, noise and frequency of breathing and style of snoring explain his internal condition and state of mind. In sum, man has wide range of expression to depict his fear, anger, anxiety, happiness, sorrow, hunger, thirst, lust, surprise, taunt, scold, etc. What a wonderful expression power, man possesses! This quality of expression gives birth to literature, painting, music, dancing, acting, mimicry, etc.

7: Meditation:

               Man is prone to meditation before the Super Being (God) in one way or other since ages. Animal don’t possess this distinction.

8: Clothing:

                Man uses clothes to cover his body. He feels shame to unveil some of his body parts, feels indignity to disclose some other portion of his body and feels dignified to cover some of them. Then, clothing protects him from the severity of weather. It has decorative value also. It depicts his feeling of sorrow or happiness. He wears different clothe according to sex, age, occasion, etc.

               Look at the variety of clothing. He wears shirt, T-shirt, jacket, sweater, coat, vest, waistcoat, etc, for upper half of body. Similarly, he covers his head, neck, hands and legs and foots with different things; made up of different materials, different style and different size, different colours, etc.

9: Collection of things:

               Man is the only specie who gathers different materials and has sense of possession. He collects money, clothe, foods, furniture, medicine; etc. He also transfers his possession to his loved ones. Animal even don’t store food, vital for their survival.

10: Change oriented:

               Man loves change. Wherever he lives or goes, he institutes changes according to his need, requirement and comfort. He not only brings changes in surrounding but also within himself. He changes his thinking, behaviour, attitude, habit, etc according to the situation. You can say: Man never changes his quality of change. Animal brings changes to very minute levels that are insignificant.

11: Housing:

              Man lives in specialized structure of residences. From Stone Age to modern Plastic age, he has been improving his abode. From caves to the Istana Nurul Iman(the largest palace of the world), he has developed his lodging. He loves to live in sophisticated, enriched and luxurious house. While, the most animals live in natural habitat. Some builds nest that too of straws and weed.

12: Three dimensional views:

           Most animal have eyes that are far apart. So they can see only two dimensions. Only man is gifted with two eyes, situated at a distance that provides three dimensional views. You can experiment by yourself. Take a book, close it and place vertically in front of your while you are seeing its binding portion and not sides. First see with one eye, you will see its binding portion or one of its sides. When you will open both eyes, you will see binding portion and both of its sides thus you are seeing its width, height and depth. This three dimensional view gives us better vision and understanding of the things.

13: Religion:

              Man is the only animal for whom God presented many religions to enrich his “man to God” and “man to man” relationship and disclosed to him the existence of life after death and the concept of accountability.

14: Civilization:

              Man is the only specie that lives in a coordinate manner. Man makes certain rules (code of ethics) based on ideology and then abide by those rules. People following certain set of rules form a group, which develops into a community and further assemble into a culture and finally mature to culminate into a civilization. As there are different ideologies, geographical conditions, generic individuality so there are different civilizations and have different characteristics. Every booming civilization will bless you with many attributes like hard work, patience, perseverance, willpower, self control, etc. that differentiate man from animals.

               Each civilization behaves like an organic body; it has birth, childhood, youth, senility and then death. According to Blaha, civilization is: “a grouping of at least several thousand people with a common culture, usually a common language, usually a geographic locale, some significant (usually monumental) buildings and architecture, and a political structure that is not necessarily unified”.

               According to Toynbee, There are 21 civilizations, 16 are dead by 1940, 4 are under severe pressure from the West. He also explained the breakdown of civilization due to failure of creative power in the creative minority and moral failure. Many civilizations like the Ancient Egyptian, the Inca, the Mayan, The Sumerian, the Babylonians, etc. have gone by. Some are blossoming and others are fading.

            Animals makes only group on the basis of species and mostly form pairs based on sex. So culture and civilization have nothing to do with animals, it is exclusively a human attribute.

15: Aim of life:

            Man is the only specie that has aim of life, both for this world and hereafter. Animal’s aim is just restricted on food, shelter, survival and sex. Man live with an aim.

Formula of success lays in making best use of man’s innate traits.

            Success is the achievement according to one’s goal. Secret of success lays in making the best use of human traits. The prime important factor of success is to set a clear aim. There is a tradition, once a lion was chasing a deer to satisfy his hunger. The deer galloped swiftly, the lion followed him. Suddenly a stream of water fall on the way, the deer jumped and flown over it but the lion got scared and stopped. The lion turned back and started walking towards his den dejectedly. A monkey was watching this drama from the top of a hill. When the lion reached near the hill, the monkey taunted lion and advised “you have gone old, now stop hunting, sit in your cave and remember God.” The old lion looked at the monkey and said, “Neither the deer is winner nor I am loser. It was the competition of two aims, I was running for my stomach and the deer was running for his life. His aim was superior to mine so he won and I lost.” So, first of all, set an elevated aim. Lowell has warned “Not failure but low aim is the crime”.

          Then God has gifted you intelligence, power of decision; bring them in use and make a planning chart. Change oriented nature and pleasure seeking traits are your driving force and then, use power of decision to choose between right and wrong, use your communicative skill and power of expression to bring people of your requirement closer to you and compose a group. Bring the Supreme Being into action by meditating according to your religion. Collect the things required to accomplish your plan, manage your clothes and abode accordingly, in a way that facilitate you task. Your hands are made to work hard in an exquisite manner and keep in mind that hard work is the key which can unlock any lock. Make the best use of your eyes to watch the progress of your team and yourself. Never allow; patience, perseverance, willpower and self control to drift away as they are the pits where most people fall.

                Sooner you will attain you goal. Success is as sure as death. If you don’t agree, go through the history of successful persons and nations. You will find these human traits soaring sky high!

LOVE: AN OUTCOME OF CHEMISTRY

LOVE: AN OUTCOME OF CHEMISTRY

 PROF WAQAR HUSSAIN

                  A year ago, a teenager boy was working on a book shop as salesman. One evening, the owner of the shop came to me and said: “the boy had expired.” It stunned me as I used to go to bookshop daily to look for new arrived books or buy stationary items and used to encounter with the boy. The boy had pleasant, jovial and noble character. And he was kind to me. His smiling face came on my mind screen and grief gripped the heart. After some restoration from sorrow, I inquired the owner: “What happened to the boy?” The owner replied: “He committed suicide”. I suddenly asked: “Why?” The owner said, “He had a love affair with a girl and her parents settled her marriage with some one else. In disappointment and sudden flare of sentiment and rush of thoughts, he threw gasoline on himself and set fire. He was taken to hospital but couldn’t succumb to the burns and died.”

               After few days, I found a new salesman on the shop, very similar to the deceased one, I asked, “Who is he?”The owner replied, “He is the younger brother of that boy, I gave him job to compensate his parents at least economically. So, he could help his parents to earn bread and butter.” The time gone by and I kept on visiting the book shop on regular basis.

                One day I noticed that new boy is not there since many days. I asked the owner. “Where is he?” He replied, “Alas! You don’t know? he died in a road accident last week.” I got severe shock and almost got stunned and came out of the shop, thinking about the tragedy fell upon the unfortunate parents. But I had nothing to do. I had no remedy either for accident or suicide. But my mind struck more on the “willful” departure of the eldest brother. Why he became so emotional? What compelled him to undergo such a dreadful act? The days passed by and I remained in perplex to find the answer. One day my friend telephoned me and sought a piece of advice. He told that his teenager son had fallen in love with a girl. When, he stopped him meeting that girl and confined him to home. He is doing unusual things. He takes knife and says I will kill you or my self. Some time he locks the door from inside and starts shouting and threw thing here and there.” In reply, I told my friend the tragic episode of the “lover” boy and gave him certain tips and also advised him to consult psychiatrist. He followed my instruction, got in touch with doctor of psychiatry and now his son is recovery rapidly. The above two events persuaded me to know about the factors which forces an individual to fall in love. Lao Tzu has rightly said: love is of all passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart and the senses. But what is behind this violent passion?

               First I started reading Will Durant’s chapter on LOVE from his book: Pleasure of Philosophy. In the opening paragraph he writes: “Love is by acclaim the most interesting of all forms of human experience; and it is astonishing that so few have cared to study its origin and development. What a majestic stream of literature has poured forth about it in every language, and from almost every pen-what epics, what dramas, what fiction, what passionate and endless poetry-and yet how little science, how scare the efforts to scrutinize the wonder objectively, to find its source in nature and the caused of its marvelous growth from the simple merging of the protozoa to the devotion of Dante, the ecstasy of Petrarch, and the loyalty of Heloise to Abelard! Yes, of course, men desire women and love, “which moves the sun and the other stars, lifts every soul to passing nobility before life ends. But why?”

               I closed the book and followed Will Durant and started searching the causes of love and started thinking what makes some one so emotional to abdicate throne like Edward IV; revolt against family and society like Heer; opt to be squeezed in wall like Anarkali; embrace death like Romeo and Juliet; stimulate Shah Jehan to build the Taj Mahal; confiscate Napoleon to do everything for Josephine; encourage Sasi to cross torrent waves of river in midnight on a pitcher; energies Sussui to search Punhu in vast desert; spend 40 year of loneliness like Queen Victoria after the death of prince Albert in seclusion; commit suicide like Cleopatra and Anthony; clung of Donelson on death for Jackson; and above all what made this boy to burn himself alive? So I started to find its origin, development in science as poets, writers, artists, play writers, musicians had made considerable progress in understanding the phenomenon of love but very little on its biological aspect. It is the subject for which so much is known but about which so little in truly understood! So I started searching scientific material to know the reasons lying behind this emotional activity. Astonished to found a lot of research and plenty of literature were available on the subject. That was enough to answer my baffling and jittery query. Probably if Will Durant were alive, he would have different view.

                           The recent studies have disclosed that neurochemicals are kindling, fanning and blazing the fire of love. These chemicals are mostly produced in brain and then go to other parts of body and create severe multitude of effects. Among many only few are mentioned below:

                 Center of emotional love activity is not lying between the legs as many believe but its epicenter is brain where neurochemical are produced and undergo chemical reactions that drive emotion of love. The part of brain related to love passion is primitive or Limbic system. Brain scan showed that the frontal cortex, vital center of judgment, shuts down when someone falls in love. This is the reason; it becomes hard to convince a lover. Brain scan further indicated that area that control fear also close down explaining why lover of unafraid of what might go wrong. Thus they plunge into extreme, dangerous and dreadful acts.

                Love is the outcome of chemicals present in brain that have powerful affect on limbic brain centre. These chemicals are described below:

1. Dopamine: It is a neurochemical, released by brain which activates brain rewarding system by triggering intense feeling of pleasure, stimulates desire which in turn is the driving force behind love. It affects the brain comparable to taking cocaine (an alkaloid used as local anaesthetic, stimulant and intoxicant). It increases energy, lessens sleep, focuses attention and creates exquisite delight.

Aron conducted a research on 10 women and 7 men who had fallen in love within one year span. MRI of participants showed high amount of dopamine in ventral tegmental area (VTA) of brain. It is responsible for the reward and motivation pleasure, pain, euphoria and a surge may result in acute feeling of reward that makes love hard to give up. Dopamine activates 5 different types of receptors, most associated with pleasure, enjoyment and motivate for proactive set of activities. That is why, advice has no effect on lover, and they carry on their venture at all cost.

2: New growth factor (NFG): It is a protein secreted by neural gland and is responsible for growth, implicate mediator in anxiety, emotional response and change in behavior. It also provokes for readiness of action and philanthropic behavior. It belongs to family of protein neurotrophins. Other members include brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), Neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) and Neurotrophin 4/5 (NT-4/5). A research was conducted which disclosed that NFG level was significantly higher in people having romantic love as compared to other. However, after one or two year, NFG level reduced to normal. It explains why passion of love fades after one year!          

              Marazziti and Canale carried out a research. People were divided into two groups; lover group and control group. Level of BDNF, NT-3 and NT-4/5 remained constant between two groups. Astonishingly, love group had elevated level of NFG as compared to control group.

            People of love group who remained with their partners, showed return of NFG to normal level when examined after about a year. . It further elucidates why obsession of love obliterates after one year!

3: Serotonin: It is monoamine derived from tryptophan. It is primarily found in brain, intestine, platelets, etc. It regulates intestinal movement and haemostasis (stoppage of flow of blood). It is popularly thought to be contributor of feeling of well-being and happiness. It also explains why someone falls in love.

            Italian scientists found that people in love has 40% lower serotonin level. It’s level fall in a similar way to those seen in patients of obsessive-compulsive disorder, explaining why love make ones feel anxious and nervous.

4: Testosterone: It is a steroidal hormone, secreted by testicle of male and the ovaries of female. In males, it develops male reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics, also increase general health, muscle, bone mass and growth of body hair. It is essential for health and well being as well as prevents osteoporosis (brittleness of bone) and plays a key role in libido energy. Testosterone can be blamed for crazy, aggressive and weird behavior of some rogue males.

              A research was conducted by dividing people in two group love groups (fallen in love with last one year) and control group (people either single or in stable long term relationship). When testosterone level was measured, it came to be known that men from the love group had lower level of testosterone than men in control group, while women from the love group had higher testosterone level than control group women. Probably it exhausted in men during the course of love activity.

5: Estrogen: (oestrogens) It is a steroid responsible for development of female’s reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics. It is believed romantic love depends on estrogen. Estrogens are present in both men and women.

6: Oxytocin: A powerful hormone released by men and women during orgasm. It is released in human during prolonged eye contact, touch, hugging, etc. It deepens the feeling of attachment and makes couple feel much closer to each other after they had sex. It seems to play a role in reducing xenophobia (fear of stranger), anxiety, reduces fear and promote social behavior such as pair bonding thereby facilitate social contact and pave the way for making love. Experiments proved its love driving and pair making effects. In prairie vole (rat like herbivorous), two hormones oxytocin and vasopressin are released. If their release in blocked, they stop sex. If injected with these two hormones, they indulged in frequent sex. In other words, love between voles is just away from an injection. In an experiment, female prairie vole were treated with oxytocin, they showed hastened pair bonding. This is the hormone that causes mother to love her infant. In an experiment, natural release of oxytocin was blocked in sheep and rate; they rejected their own young ones.

 7: Adrenalin: It is a hormone secreted by adrenal gland present on kidneys. When someone sees the person one likes, one’s heart races, palms sweets and mouth get dry. It is all due to this love chemical adrenaline.

                Adrenaline also releases in fear. It means if two people, loosely attached, could go made in love if they come by any frightening experience. It explains the lure of forbidden love.

8: Norepinephrine: It is catecholamine with multiple roles including as a hormone and a neurotransmitter. It affects the part of brain which control attention and response. It increases heart rate, triggering the release of glucose, increase blood flow to skeletal muscle, increase brain’s oxygen supply and stimulates the production of adrenalin. High level of norepinephrine increases the experience of joy and reduces appetite. In sum, helps an individual to launch a love affair.

9: Phenylethylamine (PEA): It is an amine structurally similar to amphetamine naturally occurring in brain and in foods like chocolate, bitter almond, etc. It is stimulant that causes the release of norepinephrine and dopamine. This chemical is found when someone has fallen in love. It is responsible for exalted intensified love.

              The first attraction trigger production of PEA which results in woozy feeling associated with romantic love. Larger amount increases both physical and emotional energy. It is antidepressant and induces positive mood change and promotes love.

10: Endorphin: It is a peptide hormone and is found mainly in brain. It is an endogenous morphine produced by pituitary gland during exercise, excitement, pain, love, consumption of spicy food. It relieves pain, calm anxiety and reduces stress, produces feeling of well being and is associated with feeling of attachment and comfort. All escort towards the romantic love.

11: Vasopressin: It is a peptide hormone which functions to retain water in the body and to constrict blood vessels and play a key role in homeostasis (stoppage of flow of blood). It co-work with kidney to control thirst, it is anti-diuretic hormone. Further it plays an important role in social behavior, sexual motivation and bonding. In an experiment, prairie vole were injected with vasopressin, they also formed pair bond. When male prairie voles were given a drug that suppresses the effect of vasopressin, bond-pair collapsed. Vasopressin has similar effect on human.

 12: Cortisol: It is another steroidal hormone secreted by adrenal cortex. It is synthesized from its precursor hormone progesterone in adrenal cortex.Its main function to promote gluconeogenesis(conversion of fat, protein and lactate molecules into glucose), increases hypertension and prevent excessive immune response. It lessens stress and may involve in intense attachment.

               Scientist found raised cortisol level in persons of love group as compared to control group, with no difference of sex. When hormone levels were measured in love group after a year, cortisol level returned to normal. It once again explained why love recedes in a year or so!

                 Consequently, love is nothing but the effect of these chemicals.

          Love is the soul of life, fragrance of flower, colour of rainbow, lapse of a mother, eternal reality of nature and The Blessing of God. Plato once said: “love is the joy of the good, the wonder of the wise, the amazement of the Gods”. But it must be in manageable level and it must not become an obsession, madness and craziness otherwise it is pain replacing fain, destruction in place of construction and curse instead of blessing. Follow Oscar Wild: to love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance. Loving oneself is essential, vital and universal principle of nature.

          I once wrote in The Muslim newspaper in a thought of the day: Things are neither good nor bad; it’s their use that makes them so. The passion of love should be used as positive driving force, a basis of happiness, a source of creativity, an origin of ventures, a spring of construction, a core of philanthropy, a foundation of bonding in family, society and the world. The lover boy forget to love his mother who nourished her; his father who earned livelihood for him; his country which gave her residing place;  His Creator Who created him as a super creature and his own self by setting aside Lucille Ball’s advises: love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.

        Please learn to differentiate between “love” and “maniac obsession”!

TIPS OF HAPPINESS

 TIPS OF HAPPINESS

 PROF WAQAR HUSSAIN

             Dalai Lama said: “The purpose of our lives is to be happy”. Everyone has the sole destinations to acquire the state of happiness. But the meaning of happiness are different for everyone; for poet it comes by writing a poem;  cricketer scoring a century, a businessman earning dollars, a patient recovering, a person getting rid of a nuisance guest, school boy on announcement of  vacation, woman finishing her cooking, etc. In sum, it is the feeling of inner peace, meeting of inner desire and satisfaction attained at the end of worries, fears or obsessing thoughts.

                Globally, people are loosing happiness. A survey was conducted in 1950’s in USA; 53% reported to be happy but in 1990’s, it came down to 30%. So every third person in USA is happy which is highly educated, economically prosperous, politically stable, socially equitable and above all a super power. What will the plight of poor, developing and backward countries? In this alarming low profile of gladness, one should probe the factor which brings happiness in a society. Also attempt to diagnose the factors which kill the happy moments.

                 1: TRUST: There are only 30% trustworthy people in USA as compared to 60% some 40 years ago. In Scandinavian countries, the level of trust is over 60% and that is why they are the happiest persons on the globe. Trust is an important ingredient of ethics, and originates from love and moral values. How an infant baby laughs when her mother throws him upwards in sky. His trust makes him laugh. Paul young said: “trust is the fruit of relationship in which you know you are loved.” Then trust comes from truth and also ends with it.

                2: ECONOMIC PROSPERITY: Richer individuals tend to be happier than poor ones. Prosperity brings happiness and adversity disrupts it. Jan Austin said: “A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of.” In daily life, we see the poor abusing, yelling, fighting, and even killing on the issues where riches pass away smilingly.

                   3: DOING GOOD: Virtues are the best way to assure happiness. People who care about others are happier than those who care less about others.

                 Be a giver, it a divine trait and bring happiness. Once a millionaire came to Sigmund Freud and said: “I am not happy in spite of having too much wealth.” Freud advised him to spend 100 marks, buy flowers and distribute them among children and widows. The millionaire came back to Freud after 2 or 3 weeks and said, “His life had been filled with happiness following your prescription.” You can also try this formula of probity and can witness the blessing of giving. Gandhi said: “Happiness depends on what you can give, not what you can get”. Similarly Ben Carson says: “Happiness doesn’t result from what we get, but from what we give.”

                  A survey was conducted on blood donors and they were divided into two groups; paid and unpaid. Astonishingly volunteer decided to give blood more frequently. This survey reminded me Lydia M. Child’s words: “An effort made for the happiness of others lifts above ourselves.”

                    4: PHILOSOPHY OF MIND: “Think healthy to live healthy” is and aged long formula. There must be a vivid philosophy of life. Any ambiguity in objectives creates confusion which leads to depression. A survey was conducted in 1960 in USA that showed 65% students had meaningful philosophy of life. In a recent survey, this figure how fallen to 45%.

                     Marcus Aurelius says: “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” A person with clear headed aim and objective leads a pleasurable life. So clarity of thought, objective, and actions are essential to acquire happiness.

                     Mental health is deteriorating all over the world. In Britain, emotional problem are twice as high as were in the 1970’s. New psychological therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy can transform lives. Within a span of 4 months, 50% of depression patient recovered dramatically. A strange experiment was conducted that showed individuals with positive outlook were less likely to get flue when exposed to the virus. It shows mental health strengthen body’s physiology.

                      5: MENTAL ATTITUDE: Mental approach is an essential component to gain bliss. Always be positive and looks at the brighter side of the things as the mind often takes one to negative, darker side. One should undergo mental exercise described by the psychological to train mind to always tilt towards brighter aspect of things. Sometime, one spends all the day successfully, achieving many targeted goals but in the evening instead of feeling satisfied and happy, one looks at what was not carried on and thus feel unhappy. This distress is the out come of faulty approach of mind. On going to bed, never think about the unfinished tasks of the day. If the full day’s work has not accomplished them, then on the bed, nothing can be achieved. So there is no need to get worry. Shed away all tensions and go to sleep with blank mind. It will bring a proper sound sleep which is good for mental well being. Dale Carnegie says: “Happiness doesn’t depend on any external condition; it is governed by our mental attitude.”

                      6. SUCCESS: Success brings happiness surely. Man is always working to get reward. Achievement is the outcome of judgment of circumstances, proper planning, hard work and prayer. Franklin D. Roosevelt said: “Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.” If someone doesn’t get success then he should learn lesson from the history which is teeming with the examples of try, try again. For an instant, Edison carried on more than 2000 experiments and finally succeeded in inventing electric light bulb. Failure excites hidden qualities of a man and behind every failure, there is a message that something was missing in the effort. So, there is no need to become pessimistic on failure but prepare you for more valiant and faultless attempt.

                 Have you ever pondered! Why children are happy? Children have innate nature of facing failure and committing follies without any regret. We, the elders, suppose ourselves to be a perfect individuals who never commit any error, thus victory is the only ultimate result for us. In fact, the reality is otherwise. Man is never perfect, flawless, complete and absolute. So: winning or loosing; success or failure; right and wrong-all are the essential and complementary ingredients of human beings. One should always think oneself; a human and keep in mind the Jawaharlal Nehru’s saying: “ Real failure comes only when we forget our ideals, objectives and principles and begin to wander away from the road which leads to their realization”.

                    7. EXPECTATIONS: Expectation brings greater amount of depression and lesser happiness. When your expectation is sky-high, you are destined for disappointment. So always bring your expectations to a pragmatic manageable level. Simone Elkeles has correctly advised:  “Expectation make people miserable, so whatever yours are, lower them. You will definitely be happier.”

                      8. COMPANY OF JOVIAL PERSONS: Happy man’s company brings happiness. A research was conducted which showed that happiness of close contact increase the chance of being happy by 15%. So, a group of sincere jolly friends make life joyful and fill with contentment. Surround yourself with cheerful individuals. It is easy to think negatively in the coterie of negative people. Conversely, if you are enclave by happy people, their buoyant and joyful emotion will trigger your blissful thoughts. Keep in mind, happiness is infectious and pleasant feeling easily contracts the near ones. Oscar Wilde articulates: “some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.”

                       9. FRIENDS: Friends are the greatest assets and blessing. One can share with them that he cannot with others so they are the gizmo of catharsis. Their help, advice, consolation and criticism are all beneficial in one way or other. So have a company of good friends to ensure happiness. Epicurus believed: “of all the means to insure happiness throughout the whole life, by far the most important is the acquisition of friends”.

                    10. PROBE YOUR INNERSELF: William Arthur Ward said: “Happiness is an inside job.” So, one should understand self desires as every body has his own peculiar needs and requirement for gaining solace and happiness. A thing makes someone happy, it is not necessary that it will do the same to others. Reveal your inner self and visit internal dark recesses of your mind and explore the need of your sub-conscious and then act accordingly to fulfill those needs. About 40% of one’s happiness level is within one’s control. Helen Keller has truly said: “Happiness doesn’t come from without, it comes from within.”

                   11. HEALTH IS WEALTH: Health plays a vital role in attaining happiness. A detail of chemicals which triggers happiness are explained in detail in article: “Happiness; an outcome of chemistry.”

                 Andrew Step tow and Michael Marmont disclosed that happiness is correlated with three biological markers that play a pivotal role in maintaining good health and pleasing mood. They conducted a research survey in London on 216 middle aged persons with a view to find linkage between well being and biological markers; heart rate, Cortisole level and Fibrinogen level in blood. They found unhappy persons had 48% higher cortisole level than the happier ones. They also get to know that unhappy individuals had higher fibrinogen level. Both repeated their research after three years and found that persons with positive emotions had lower cortisole level, fibrinogen level and heart rate. From their research, it can be concluded that happiness is the result of low level of these three biological markers. In another research, Frey disclosed that happy person lives 14% longer and have 7.5 to 10 years move life span. It shows happiness increases longevity and one remembers two old maxims; cat has nine lives and care killed a cat. It means worries have taken life of that animal which was hard to kill. George William Curtis has precisely said: “Happiness lies, first of all, in health”.

                 12. EXERCISE: Exercise is a mood booster and known to release endorphin that gives feeling of happiness. Americans are among the happier nations. One reason behind this joyfulness is their habit of exercise. Once there were 160 members of parliament of Florida, you will astonish to know that 132 were member of different Jims and 28 used to jog daily for an hour. Overall in USA, 98% members of parliament of all states are accustomed to regular exercise. Americans believe that one who does not exercise, is not serious in politics and a politician who doesn’t care himself, how can he care for his country? In a research in USA, a chart of habits of 1000 successful business, they had 23 common habits, you will astonish to know that in 23 common habits, 5th was the habit of exercise. Furthermore, Americans are the most buyers of exercise machines; greatest user of food supplements and had the largest number of Jims. There are special channels for exercise only. In sum, America has almost turned into an exercise industry.

                Other nation, especially, developing should follow suit. Exercise is the best tool to maintain health and ultimately happiness. A famous Urdu writer Shafiqu er Rehman writes in an article: “If you have been failed in examination then undergo pushups soon you will ease out. Similarly, if you are betrayed by your girl friend then go for jogging,… etc.” Probably he was aware of the importance of physical exercise and had come to know its effects on human mind.

              13. NOVELTY: Novelty is the key of happiness. Man often get bore due to monotony. The brain stimulates by surprise, unexpected scenario, new ideas and novo stuff. Pliny says: “Human nature is greedy for novelty”. South says: “Novelty is the great parent of pleasure”. So, one should get ride of routine practices and indulge in new activities to quench the thirst of newness oriented mind.

                 14. BE SATISFIERS, NOT MAXIMIZERS: Be satisfiers, not maximizer. There are two types of decision makers; Satisfiers who make decision on the criteria they set themselves. When they find the hotel that has the qualities they want, they are satisfied. They are selective in their approach. However, maximizers want to make best possible decision, near to perfection and follow the principle of aristos(the best possible decision). If they find the hotel having requirement they need, they still search for an ideal hotel and search every available option. Their too much anxiety about perfection makes there unhappy. In fact, nothing is complete in all respect and lacuna is a universal principle. Rather one should go for his need which can be fulfilled.

                     15. HEALTHY FOOD: Food is an important factor of happiness. Improper food leads to a wide range of maladies and thus opens the gate of worries. Food is not just to fill stomach or to appease the lust of tongue. One should follow Chinese criteria of good food: tasty, good looking and have valuable effects. Food can be classified into two group according to their ingredients; energy provider (carbohydrate, protein and fat) and body regulator (vitamins, minerals, water and fiber). Among regulators vitamins and minerals are essential for brain chemistry and body’s proper functioning. Both are complementary part of all biochemical pathway which leads to synthesis of neurotransmitters which help to determine our mood. Fruits, vegetables, milk, egg yolk, liver, cod liver oil are rich in vitamins and minerals. The person who eats vegetable, fruits and milks have pleasant mood due to his proper physical strength.

                   16: BALANCED IN ACTIVITY: Art Book Wild, one of the most read columnist of USA, said: “A man comprises of three things; Body, mind and soul. We undergo exercise to keep body healthy; we read to sharpen brain but we usually forgets soul. We do nothing to enliven and sharpen it. In spite of the fact, the roots of our body and mind are pegged in soul. I am not a religious man but I consider ‘exercise’ to be meditation of body; ‘study’ the meditation of mind and ‘philanthropy’ the meditation of soul. I spend money, earned from 450 newspapers, on my personal life whereas spend money, got from 150 newspapers, in charity, I award scholarship to students, free treatment, manage homeless people and help calamity hit victims. This is my meditation and I am a very happy person.” So, there must be a balance in the activities of body, mind and soul to ensure happiness.

                17. SELF TRAINING: William James, psychologist and disciple of Sigmund Freud, said: “ with every emotion of man, an action is related. For example, If he is in sorrow, he weeps; if happy, he laughs; in anger, shouts; in love, kisses; in fear, ran away, etc. He further adds that if a man can revert and repeats action related to any emotion. After a few minutes, that emotion will emerge. For example, if someone starts shouting and poses to be in anger sooner he will be really in rage. If someone acts as if he is happy and starts laughing. Sooner his mood will be transformed pleasant and joyful.”So, one can undergo training of molding one’s mood and should practice posing of happiness. Out of the 50% happiness level, 10% are affected by circumstances and 40% on self control according to Sonja Lyubomirsky

                18. MEDITATION: Meditation has been found to bring high activity in the brain’s left prefrontal cortex which in turn has been found to correlate with happiness. Philosophers are of the view that man feels hiatus, even after attaining all worldly things and this lacuna can only be filled by meditation. Meditation shifts responsibilities and liabilities of a man towards The Greater Being and lessen his burden. Meditation also evokes hope of well being and this hope generates happiness. Goethe says: “In all things it is better to hope than to despair”. Meditation also eliminates fear of man. Fear of losing life, honor, property, health, etc is attached to every individual. Every body owes some kind of fear and thus it blocks the flow of happiness. The best way to ward off unknown fear is the subjugation to God .According to M. Gandhi: “Let us fear God; and we shall cease to fear man”.

                   A research was conducted on psycho patients, divided into two groups; those who were in habit of adoration in the midnight .Other were away from any kind of meditation. Doctor found accelerated recovery in patient fond of Divine Service .Meditation not only enrich a person spiritually but also regulate his mind and body, thus fill his life with happiness. The Quran says:” The remembrance of God brings peace in heart.” God is man’s need that is why Voltaire once said: “If God doesn’t exist, it would be necessary to invent him.”

19: ACTIVITY Once I read a journal of psychology when I was doing B.Sc from F.C. College Lahore and line, of a happiness related article, struck in my mind. It was, secret of happiness is activity. From that day, I started enjoying by adopting appropriate activities. I started to visit Laurence Garden (Bagh-e-Jinnah) during spring. The towering green trees, fragrant colourful flowers, singing birds, multi-colored tiny insects, exercising athletes-all amused me by one way or other. Later, I kept on adopting different activities to bring joy. Even in phases of loneliness, I started playing card game “patience” and so on. I will advise you to adopt any apposite activity either recreational or occupational. Thomas Jefferson analyzed: “It is neither wealth nor splendor; but tranquility and occupation which give you happiness.” Further there is an Urdu adage: Farigh dimagh sheetan ka ghar hotta hay (idle mind is the abode of the devil.) Aristotle prudently said: “Happiness is a state of activity.”

                20. RELIGION: Religious people are mostly happy. It may be the result of community membership, harmony of ideology, sense of congregational security, rituals, belief in religion, good deeds, etc. Meditational aspect of religion has already been discussed.

             Religious doctrine describe different recipe for happiness. For example a famous Muslim saint Iman Ghazali wrote” alchemy of happiness” containing a manual of spiritual instruction to attain peace and tranquility. His recipe is being practiced widely in the Muslim world.

                 In Bhuddhism, the acquisition of happiness is the prime object after getting freedom from suffering. It advises the noble Eightfold Path to reach a state of everlasting peace which they refer as Nirvana.

                  Thomas Aquinas says that man’s last end is happiness and it could only be achieved from virtues. Natural law and divine laws are caused by God.

               Chinese thinker Mencius was convinced that the mind played a mediating role between the lesser self (psychological self) and the greater self (moral self) and that getting the priorities between these two would lead to saga-hood.

               Aristotle believed that happiness is the practice of virtue. Similarly George Washington said: “Human happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.” For me: “there is micro octave (note of music) of an individual and macro octave of nature, both must synchronize by constructive interference to become a perfect duet of melodious song of true, real and everlasting happiness.”

                21: AVOID AWFUL CHARACTERS: Abominable characters are present in every society. They are negative, insatiable, criticize bluntly, put remarks ruthlessly, talk only about your weak aspects, spread distress and emanate negative magnetic waves, thus in a jiffy, they can turn a laughing individual to a morose one. There is only one viable solution for such people to hire a taxi and drive far away or make your self strong and shut their mouth without loosing your temperament and jolly disposition. Brain L Weiss advises: “you become vulnerable and can easily hurt when your feeling of security and happiness depend on the behavior and actions of other people. Never give your power to anyone else.”

                  22. LOVE, LOVE AND LOVE: Love other and they will love you. Love is the strongest factor of happiness. You feel happy in your family as they love you. You feel happy in you friends because they love you. You feel happy in your country as your countryman loves you. So live to love and you will love to live. Do you know love has no tongue, yet it can talk; love has no voice, yet it can be heard; love has no body, yet it can be seen; love has no fragrance, yet it can be smelt and love has no warmth, yet it can be felt?.... Love emanate through the sixth corridor of sense.

                George Sand has endorsed my view point, he says: “There is only one happiness in this life; to love and be loved.” So, right from today adopt aged long slogan in letter and spirit: “Love for all, hatred for none.” Be a spring to gush out the water of love and people will pay back in the same coin and you will be happy. Sri Chinmoy says: “I am very happy because I have conquered myself and not the world. I am very happy because I have loved the world and not my self.”

               23: FIRST ENDURE THEN FORGET: Forget the things which are beyond your control. In life, you encounter many issues, situations and events for which you have no answer. There are two responses to such awful happening; one is to keep on beating you chest and cry. Other is to try to endure and forget .Which cannot be cured; must be endured. Both responses are painful and agonizing but the latter is bit lesser.

              24: SELIGMAN’S FORMUL: Psychologist Martin Seligman summarized tools of happiness in acronym PERMA (pleasure, engagement, relationship, meaning of life and accomplishment.) Apparently the formula looks marvelous, let have a try!

              25: U SHAPED PATH OF HAPPINESS:

              Happiness follow U shaped path during the life cycle. One is happier when young and old and least happy in middle age. In the prime of youth, one is brimming with hopes, emotions, ambitions, energy and achievements are great so one’s spirit soars sky high. In middle age, responsibilities, liabilities and objectives remain the same but hope, emotion, ambition, energy, etc. start to decline. That is why a person becomes unhappy.

                 Man takes long to realize the fact and accept the truth that he is not younger and juvenile as before. Until realization, one remains in doldrums and distress. Then nature forcibly tells him the reality. When one grew old, one has no powers, no responsibilities, no accountability, no ambitions, etc. One just has to kill the time by different engagements. Above all one realizes a bigger truth that life is transitory, and we are just travelling on train through the cities of life; thus seeing, observing and analyzing become the sole goal of life. Man starts examining every thing happening around him with great zeal and zest and ultimately gets highest level of happiness .And we all knows finishing bites of chocolate taste more. So he starts enjoying every bit of life.

                   Be a human always thing that you are a human being and you will feel happiness and sorrow; solaces and pains; respect and insult; acceptance and rejection; good and bad; health and disease; right and wrong; best luck and hard luck, etc .Once Hasina Moin, a famous Urdu drama writer said, “Life is a long journey through unseen paths, where you encounter sweat water spring and filthy puddles. You have to drink a sip from both.” This is the realization one has to develop and it ensures you greater happiness’s and awards you courage to face the odd situation.