Why You Still Feel Empty Even After Achieving It All (Gita Explains)
Manika | Jul 07, 2025, 20:00 IST
( Image credit : Times Life Bureau )
Highlight of the story: Even when life seems good, why does happiness feel out of reach? I found myself asking this late one night, feeling oddly hollow despite having everything I once wanted. That’s when the Gita found me, not with promises of joy, but with wisdom about detachment, ego, and chasing the wrong things. This article explores how the Gita flips our understanding of happiness, reminding us that real peace comes not from achieving more, but from letting go and returning to who we truly are.
1. Happiness Isn’t the Goal; Peace Is
The Gita says: seek balance.
Krishna never promises Arjuna happiness. Instead, he teaches him to rise above pleasure and pain, to not be owned by moments, moods or achievements.
It’s not that happiness is wrong it’s that chasing it endlessly sets you up for constant dissatisfaction. True peace isn’t in the highs. It’s in the steadiness between the highs and lows.
Always remember negative and positive are always complimentary to each other.
2. You’re Not Your Achievements; Stop Letting Them Define You
Because we attach our worth to results. We think:
“I got the job, now I’ll be happy.”
“If I get this person to love me, I’ll feel whole.”
“Once I lose 5 kgs, I’ll finally like myself.”
But Krishna reminds Arjuna:
Translation? Do your best. But don’t tie your entire identity to the outcome.
If you let success define you, failure will destroy you.
Happiness doesn’t come from control it comes from detachment.
3. The Real Reason You’re Not Happy: Expectation
We expect:
People to behave a certain way
Life to unfold in a straight line
Gratitude to arrive the moment a goal is ticked off
The Gita doesn’t ask you to suppress desire. It asks you to release obsession. It asks you to give your best, and let go of the rest.
Happiness isn’t stolen by failure. It’s stolen by attachment to imagined outcomes.
4. Comparison is the Thief of Joy, And the Gita Knew It Long Before Instagram
Krishna addresses this subtly throughout the Gita warning Arjuna not to compare himself with others or try to live another man’s dharma (duty).
Stop asking, “Why don’t I have what they have?”
Start asking, “Am I walking my path with honesty?”
5. Your Mind Is Not Your Master-Train It
“I’m not enough”
“They didn’t appreciate me”
“What if I lose it all?”
Krishna repeatedly emphasizes mastering the mind:
Your mind can be a temple or a prison.
Either you train it… or it drains you.
6. The Happiness You’re Chasing Is Already Within You
Your true self-Atman-is pure, peaceful, unshaken. But you’ve forgotten. You’ve mistaken the body for the self, emotion for identity, and status for joy.
You don’t become happy by adding things.
You become peaceful by uncovering what was always there.
7. Happiness Isn’t an Achievement; It’s a Practice
It’s a daily choice to:
Let go of comparison
Detach from outcomes
Accept what is, even when it’s not ideal
Be kind, without condition
Breathe, without waiting for “everything to fall into place”
The Gita isn’t a one-time read. It’s a daily realignment with clarity, courage, and calm.
Maybe the Question Isn’t “Why Am I Not Happy?”, It’s “What Am I Chasing?”
Waking up to the truth that joy can’t be hunted.
It has to be invited. By simplifying. By detaching. By trusting.
The Gita doesn’t dismiss pain or pleasure. It simply tells you:
And through that endurance, through that balance, through that quiet knowing…
You stop chasing happiness.
And start living from peace.
Explore the latest trends and tips in Health & Fitness, Spiritual, Travel, Life Hacks, Trending, Fashion & Beauty, and Relationships at Times Life!