The Write Circle on June 15, 2018, hosted Dr. Yusuf Merchant who is the President of the Drug Abuse Information Rehabilitation & Research Centre (DAIRRC) and the author of Happyness: Life Lessons from a Creative Addict. The session was introduced by Mita Kapur, CEO of Siayhi. The session was focused on his book and the rehabilitation of people with mental health issues like substance abuse and depression.
Happiness is a process, it is as much about the journey as the destination. An enlightening session began with Dr. Yususf Merchant ‘Doc’, sharing his pearls of wisdom regarding what ‘happyness’ is, and how does one become happy. “Overcoming obstacles will make you happy. Find a goal for yourself, and find challenges to overcome.”
Dr. Merchant listed the “fundas of happyness” as he calls it, laying emphasis on building strong emotional bonds. “Without good emotional bonds, it is impossible to be happy. Invest in creating those bonds.” The session progressed with Dr. Merchant talking of failures and successes, “Learn to celebrate failure, you can’t keep winning all the time. We have to learn from our failures. Those are as good as successes; in fact, we need more courage when we are successful.”
Lacing his talk with nostalgia and recalling the days of his younger self, Dr. Merchant mentioned the power of creation. “If you have a problem, create something.” Sharing his secret to writing the book on happiness, Dr. Merchant mentioned how one can channelize their overwhelming emotions through creation, and gave his own instance of having written a book despite his busy working schedules.
The discussion followed a question and answer session, where Dr. Merchant answered queries surrounding substance abuse and rehabilitation. “For addicts, drugs and alcohol is the solution. The way to counter it is to provide an alternative solution.”