The most important thing in life...

"What is the most important thing in your life?". This is one of the questions that can have a whole variety of answers, each being justified.

Is it career,profession, money?
So many people around me are completely into gaining expertise in their field, devoting all their time and energy into making a mark in their respective fields. Relaxation and leisure time is limited to them. Because, to them, that is what makes them a responsible, intelligent individual. Ambitious, focused, determined. These words define them. The thought that success is sure to come keeps them happy.

Is it love, your partner?
A lot of people around me give utmost importance to their love life. Everything else comes later. Their relationship is all that matters. That is mostly the topic they want to talk about and think about. How to be happier with her/him ? How to make her/him happier? How to plan make sure they have a future together? How to resolve differences? etc. etc. They have no other serious topics to spend time on. They spend all their free time with each other. All the affection in a person is exclusively for her/his partner. Their world does not go beyond each other. The feeling of giving love and being loved makes them feel on top of the world.

Is it friends?
Friends and socializing are the most important aspect in some people's lives. They spend most of their time hanging out with friends. They will do anything for their friends, they like to keep making new friends, at the same time they make sure that they keep in touch with their old ones. They keep writing to and calling up friends who live far away. They make sure they know details of most things that happen in their friends lives and also discuss their personal details with their many friends. The feeling of being connected gives them a sense of belonging.

Is it fun?
A few people I know live life just to have a gala time. They don't think too much about anything and their only aim is to enjoy life. Career, love etc. are the secondary aspects that keep changing and they don't pay much heed to these. They live by impulse and they do whatever they feel like doing at the moment. They are friendly with almost everyone and they seem happy almost all the time.

Is it looks, beauty and glamour?
Many others, especially girls, put in all their time and effort into attaining that perfect figure, that flawless complexion, the perfect hair etc. They go to the gym daily, they eat only healthy ( read just enough to survive) food. They spent a good amount of time daily in front of the mirror criticizing and complimenting themselves. They do their best to keep up with trends and look hot. They have to dress trendy even if they are just going down the road to buy toothpaste. They watch page3 people on TV, love spending hours looking through glam magazines, read exclusively the celebrity news section in newspapers etc. All their efforts don't go waste as they do have a lot of fan-following, so they seem satisfied.

Is it extra-curricular (could be the wrong word)activities?
Some people I know pay a lot of attention to learning as many skills as they can. Or master one socially-impressive skill or activity such as dancing, playing instruments, kickboxing etc. And oh yes, volunteer work too. They enjoy doing it and get immense happiness from it.

Is it family?
A set of people around me are totally family-oriented. They keep calling up their parents, siblings, grand-parents, cousins, uncles, aunts...everyone. Everyone in the big family adore them. Family is the beginning and end of everything. Any problem they have, they immediately turn to family. All the important decisions in their lives are taken after the consent of family. They feel gratified because they never forget their roots.

Is it religion?
There are a few who believe that the religion they are born in, leads their life. They abide by every word said in the scriptures, fearful even to think of questioning anything written. Wrong and right is pre-decided by the religion and these people feel that they are too inferior to think and interpret the will of God and purpose of life by themselves. They blindly follow rituals and practices without knowing their real meaning. They live by faith. And their blind yet intense faith in their religion makes them feel like a good person, thus they are happy.

Is it spirituality?
Many other people have a thirst to gain spiritual knowledge. They look at life as a journey of constant learning. They have a zeal for getting this knowledge from external sources( such as gurus and books), as well as internally( through meditation and self-introspection).For them, life is a journey towards gaining enlightenment and finally attaining moksha. They constantly wonder about life and its meaning, about the Being and about God. The many rare experiences they go through and their feeling of being connected with the universe gives them a sense of joy.


Well, as far as I have observed people, one person can belong to a maximum of three such groups. None of these people are right or wrong in choosing their priorities. All these are just different ways of living. All of these outlooks can be justified. And well, when it comes to me...I really cannot say which group(s) I belong to. Today I belong to one group and tomorrow I belong to another. I keep jumping groups which has made me a little restless, but maybe, even this jumping is yet another way of living!
But the bottom line is... all these people, including me, no matter which group they belong to, what they finally yearn for is happiness. As long as they are happy doing what they are doing, they are right. This constant restlessness and confusion in me still keeps me happy as I believe that I have chosen this path because it is the best path for me. The multiple perspectives I have and my intriguing nature has shown me a lot of beautiful things around and inside me that I might have missed out if I had chosen a different path.

So I guess, the one single answer to the question is HAPPINESS, the most important thing in life finally comes to simple happiness. :)