Diana dead, but the search continues...

Ten years ago, I was sufficiently inspired (or mad enough) to create something called the International Institute of Joy – an organisation dedicated to helping people find sustainable happiness.

Joy for me then, as now, defined as "happiness without a reason"; the natural state of human beings when our basic needs are met, beneath and beyond the petty concerns that increasingly dominate our minds.

Ten years to this very day, an article about my joyful work appeared in The Daily Mail under the heading: "Who's the Guru?" As it turned out, the piece showed up - full on - in the shadow of Princess Diana's death. As the nation descended into mass mourning, my call to "train your soul to find happiness" understandably got buried.

This is what it said: "As a race, we have forgotten how to enjoy long-term happiness. Many people think they can find it in possessions such as cars, houses and clothes. Society's over-emphasis on accumulating wealth means we are out of the habit of training our souls and minds to find joy internally through our peace of mind.

We can't sustain happiness by buying it through external objects. Achieving peace of mind and happiness involves changing some of our negative thinking, which often results from stress, and the way we organise our lives.

It is difficult to feel happy when our minds are dominated by emotions such as anger, worry and fear, which are common in today's society because we never seem to stop, or we slow down too late. They inhibit joy because, for example, anger leads to conflict; worry triggers illness and fear can paralyse our ability to feel free and make unprejudiced decisions. As a result, we feel frustrated and that something is missing in our lives.

We should use tools such as yoga and meditation to access the part of our mind where there is a source of joy, contentment and calm. Just setting aside some special time to be still, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, is a good start. It's important to allow ourselves the time to consider what we want from life and to think about discarding what we simply don't need.

Retreats and workshops don't provide an instant solution, but they do allow people to step off the conveyor belt, removing them from their habitual choices in life. If you feel as though there must be more to life, then listen to yourself: there is. Be positive, don't be a victim and you can change your life.

It's about thinking 'Thank goodness it's today' rather than just 'Thank goodness it's Friday'." Ten years on, I largely stand by what I said as a younger, meaning-of-life-seeking sort of guy (even though it got slightly "journalisticated").

And as our collective mind is inevitably drawn back to the unresolved issues around Diana's death, I think it's still fair to say that our overwhelming concern as human beings is the search for happiness. A quest so publicly and painfully exemplified by the "Queen of Hearts".