Every human being is continuously trying to do things to make him/ her happy and every human being is capable of feeling this happiness in himself/ herself spontaneously. In addition to happiness we aspire for adequate fulfilment of our bodily needs. Nobody wants to be deprived even for a single moment.
Happiness
The state or situation in which I live if there is harmony/ synergy in it, then I like to be in that state or situation. i.e. to be in the state of liking is happiness.
Happiness is a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure or joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources. Happiness may be described as consisting of positive emotions and positive activities. There may be three kinds of happiness: pleasure, engagement, and meaning. In other words, freedom from want and distress, consciousness of the good order of things, assurance of one’s place in the universe or society, inner peace and so forth. Happiness is the state of mind, where we feel good in most of the walk of life. Philosophers and religious thinkers often define happiness in terms of living a good life; or flourishing, rather than simply as an emotion.
Prosperity
Prosperity is the feeling of having or making available more than required physical facilities.
Prosperity is the state of flourishing, thriving, success or good fortune. Prosperity often encompasses wealth but also includes other factors which are independent of wealth to varying degrees, such as wisdom and health. The word means the sum of three aspects – health, wealth and wisdom. Almost all of us feel that wealth alone means prosperity and try to explain this phenomenon on this non-existent or half fact. This is the state of enlightenment towards better life and happy society.
Difference between Prosperity and Wealth
Wealth is a physical thing. It means having money or having a lot of physical facilities or both. Prosperity is a feeling of having more than required physical facilities.
Prevailing Notions of Happiness and Prosperity
We are trying to achieve happiness and prosperity by maximizing accumulation and consumption of physical facilities. It is becoming anti-ecological and anti-people, and threatening the human survival itself. Some of the consequences of such trend are summarized below:
- At the level of individual – rising problems of depression, psychological disorders, suicides, stress, insecurity, etc.
- At the level of family – breaking of joint families, mistrust, conflict between older and younger generations, insecurity in relationships, divorce, dowry tortures, etc.
- At the level of society – growing incidence of terrorism and naxalism, rising communalism, spreading casteism, racial and ethnic struggle, wars between nations, etc.
- At the level of nature – global warming, water, air, soil, noise etc. pollution, resource depletion of minerals and mineral oils, etc.
