Once upon a time, there lived a musk deer. It
had great time with it's mates wandering over mountains and roaming along the
green wood shades. Suddenly it's awareness shifted towards an exquisitely
pleasant divine perfume. This aroma profoundly touched it's soul, and the scent
was addictive enough to drive it crazy about the source of fragrance. The deer
started it's desperate search day and night, without caring for food and sleep,
for cold and heat. It runs faster and faster in the fear of never finding the
source of thrilling aroma. Whenever the deer thought to rest for a while, it
was provoked by the fragrance and would begin with the mad search again. It eventually
went so restless and exhausted, that it drops down to the ground, and couldn’t
get up back despite it's utmost attempts. The deer took it's last breathe in
grief, desperation and dissatisfaction for it's inability to find the source of
'Kasturi' . Well, how would the poor deer know, the most intoxicating smell of
kasturi which spread it's fragrance all around, comes out from its own navel?
The secret source of kasturi would have been
probably revealed to the deer, if it would open it's inner spiritual eye, to
sense the intensity of the smell within, instead of blindly roaming all around
the world in search of fragrance. Aren't we humans just like musk deer?
We
keep running behind 'something' all our life and we never know, what is that 'something'
behind which we are running so desperately. In your fast pace of life, if you
make some space for yourself and ask your inner soul to find the answer, your
ultimate answer, no doubt will be fructification of 'Happiness'.
Just like
oil in the til seed,
Like fragrance in the flower,
Like fire in the wood and
Essence in the food,
Happiness is hidden within our soul.
Happiness is not just a feeling, it is the
state of harmonious being, a state of satisfaction and contentment, and
therefore regarded as the first step towards our spiritual journey. Most of
the things we desire in life are profoundly expensive, but the things we truly
need and deserve are for free of cost. Yes, taking a decision to be happy
doesn't cost you a penny. Happiness is not a chase of lucky moments, rather it
is a matter of conscious choice.
We can count our blessings or misfortunes, we
can count our smiles or tears, our loved ones or hatred, we can make life
either miserable or happy and resilient. It is entirely up to you, to decide
what you love to count. You can complain, rose bushes have thorns, or
rejoice thorn bushes have roses in it. Life is a beautiful festival to be celebrated.
And it's a privilege to be born as a human to enjoy this celebration. We live
in warmth shelter, we choose the house we would love to live in, we can prepare the food we choose to eat, we can watch
the show we enjoy, we can read the stuff we choose, we are flooded with
technologies all around to make life simpler. Moreover, we have thousand ways
to distract ourselves from worries and stress of daily life. So life is
entirely blossomed with options and opportunities. It's always been the matter
of choice for human beings, perhaps unique among all animals. Life of other
animals is often viewed as an earnest struggle to survive, for shelter, food
and existence. The impressive fact about them is that, they have developed the
ability to adapt, for what the nature brings and actively move on in life. Despite being aware of the fact, neither we
nor our problems are meant to be here forever, we complain, fear, worry, accept
defeat and choose to quit even for the smallest problem of ours. People who
love to complain, themselves create the reason to complain, just like silk
worm, rolling silk around its own body. Chill, you aren't the only person on
this earth who own all the problems. Expecting your problems to come to an
end, to begin your journey of happiness is as good as 'expecting a rainbow
without rain'.
It's
well said, 'being happy doesn’t mean, everything is perfect, it just means
that you have decided to look beyond imperfections'. Circumstances
and situation do colour life, but you have always been given the choice to
choose your colour. You always have an optimistic perspective to look at the
situations. There is no perfect life, but you can fill it with perfect moments.
The ball of happiness is always in your court. Then why not decide to lead a life
filled with excitement, love, joy, fun, happiness and contentment? Why not suck
the nectar of this sweet life?
Materialism is ruling the world and we are so struck in this vicious
cycle of running behind materialistic luxuries to find happiness. Ofcourse to
certain extent luxuries, success, name, fame bring a sense of achievement and
delight. But is such delight reliable and permanent? I shall rather call it a
'momentary pleasure' than happiness. Because, if we have an Audi today, we wish
for a Ferrari tomorrow, if we are wearing a gold necklace, soon our eyes
capture a diamond one, if we have a 3G mobile, our mouth waters for 4G , if we
have an iPad 4, our heart beats faster for iPad 5. Isnt this true? Is there any
dead-end for human desires? No, we never
know full stop, but only comma's for our wishes. We often keep postponing our
happiness. We proclaim, "I will be happy after completing my education, we
further postpone saying, after having a good job, after getting married, after
owning a house, after having children, after buying a four wheeler, after
getting retired, after children's marriage, after playing with grandchildren....and
this list never ends. Time flies too quickly to realize, ‘Happiness is a
journey and not a destination'. A happy person is the one who is cheerful with
moderate means, and an unhappy person is the one who is discontented in the
midst of plenty. Why set milestones for happiness when we never know which is our last breathe? Why regret our last moment, when it's entirely our choice to
say in satisfaction that, "I have lived my life to the fullest" ? Why not fortune ourself to die with a smile
of content?
With your decision, you can chase down the
butterfly of happiness and make it sit on your shoulder. Ofcourse, there is no
perfect way for happiness but surely, there is a way to influence our
subconscious to experience the Zest of happy life. So here is a bundle
of tips, when knotted together brings out the strength of fostering your
subconscious positively.
Wake up with smile and simply enjoy the simplest
things
A quote says, “Well begin is half
done". A soothing begin will surely make your day. Wake up with the best
possible feelings that can bring a beautiful curve on your lips. Step-on the
magic carpet of imagination. Think of anything and everything you love, the
rising sun, the blooming buds, dew drops on leaflet, wet green grass, the sweet
voice of nightingale, colorful butterflies, the flowing water, the music of
rain, a sparkling rainbow, a beautiful girl, naughtiness of a child, moment spent with your loved ones, warmth of
your partner or anything else that can
bring a genuine smile on your face to kickstart your day.
One
who knows the art of living, finds happiness even in our routine habits, just
like taking a shower, a cup of coffee or window shopping. Well have you ever
enjoyed the fragrance, foam and warm water that rejuvenates your every
cell? Fragrance, incense can boost your
mood to peak. And thats the reason behind the traditional idea of burning incense
sticks, especially in the evening to forget the tedious pressures of the day
and rest in peace. Life looks beautiful for the people, who decide to simply
enjoy the simplest things. "There are only two ways to live your life,
one is as though nothing is miracle, the other is as though everything is
miracle".
Have a
goal for life
It's said, “if you want to be happy,
tie your life to goals, not to people and things" . Yes, goals excite and
motivate us. They give direction for life, a meaning and purpose for living.
Goals drag us from unwanted thoughts and push us forward to try something new every
day, which ultimately makes us happy. Dream big, future belongs to those who believe
in the beauty of dreams.
Have a passionate hobby
Hobby
is something that brings creative spark, self-satisfaction and a sense of
achievement. It is not just an activity to kill time, but hobby is something
that you really are passionate about. Hobbies like music, art, craftwork,
dance, reading books, writing an article, painting, collecting certain
materials and so on can make a huge difference. Feel good chemicals like
dopamine and serotonin are released when you are tuned with your hobby. Hobbies
add spice and flavors for living and take you to ecstasy.
Take it
easy policy - Philosophy of a sportsman
Playing a sport is genuinely funful. It makes you feel refreshed and detached from the rest of the world. It helps you increase your
focus and keeps you attentive. Although, watching a sport or playing a game is
an option for you, philosophy of a sportsman (a sportsman spirit) is something
that is mandatory, to handle the battle between success and failure. Life is a
race with other individuals who almost have same talent and capabilities. There
is no guarantee that victory is always yours. Sportsman spirit is something
that assists us, how to endure defeat with patience and rise back after a failure.
A true sportsman spirit applauds a good play, cheers the team, follows ethics
and doesn't cheat in the temptation of success. It aids a total emotional well-being.
Having a 'goal for life' is a major ingredient in the recipe of happiness but
it doesn't taste well without a sportsman spirit, added to it. Goals without
hope and an attitude to recuperate can only bring frustration and
disappointment. Be a boomerang so that you can enjoy your journey towards your destination
(your goal).
Meditate - connect to yourself
We
have all heard on benefits of meditation. Meditation helps us to self-regulate
our thoughts and mind process. We obtain calmness, peace of mind, joy, vibrant
health, greater energy levels, strong bonded relationships and long lasting happiness
through meditation. But isn't there something that is stopping you from
meditating? I have a strong feeling that, knowing about origin, facts and
scientifically proven results on meditation will be a true motivation to begin
with meditation . In the midst of our busy day we cannot force ourself to sit
aside at a place and start to meditate, unless you are inspired by the history
and impressed by the proofs.
The history of meditation dates all
the way back to ancient times. When we go back to know more about the origin of
meditation, it gives a very misty vision, with one clear thought that unfolds the strong reason behind the genesis of meditation and that was,'desire of man, to know about the fascinating
mysteries of mind'. Meditation is said to be developed in
Eastern cultures and it has well documented proof on it's benefits,
right from era of civilization. Earlier written records about meditation come
from Hindu traditions of Vedantism - philosophy of Self-realization around
1500 BCE. It is also said Tantric meditation was developed by South Indian
tribes, for self-discovery of conscious mind, around ten thousand years ago
.The 'Pali canon' which dates 1st century BCE considers Indian Buddhist
Meditation as the step towards salvation.
Benefits of Meditation
was well known to all the scholars, monks, philosophers who went in search of
spiritual truths like quest of life, purpose of existence, true happiness...
which in turn was the sole purpose of their meditation. Let’s turn back the
pages of history to know about few great philosophers, thinkers, scientists and
artists who got answers to their quests through mindful meditation.
Gautam Buddha, Adi Shankaracharya,
Madhvacharya, Socrates, Descartes, Prophet Muhammed, Shree Ramakrishna, Swami
Vivekananda, Raman Maharshi, Sant Guru Nank , Mahaveera, Dalai Lama, Osho
,Mozart ,Alan Watts, Aldous Huxley and many more. Their approach on the ways of
meditation might be different, but the motto was one, 'Spiritual bliss'.
Some of our great scientists like Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Srinivasa
Ramanujan, Nikola Tesla, Aage Bohr used few meditative techniques. There is a
quote by Albert Einstine which says," Meditation is the way to get answers
even before you asked questions". Sir Issac Newton says, "A practice
of holding a subject and calmly letting it develop could be possible through
unbroken meditation".
Meditation activates the inner
intellect which already knows the hidden magnificence of the world. Meditation,
in its own way has the power to reveal the facts of life, and that’s the reason
behind which our saints and scientists meditated hours together, to know extraordinary
truths, facts and figures of life, which was out of reach for an ordinary
person. The strong reason, behind which they are loved, respected and worshiped
even today. Aren’t we the followers of these great people? Then why not follow their footsteps in
learning the secret of happiness and knowledge, through meditation?
Well, in today’s
electronic world, critical analysis and scientific results are valued much more
than history and stories. Yes, it is scientifically proved by
'Wisconsin-Madison' research team about the lasting positive changes in brain
and immune function after meditation. Earlier research had proved - for happy
and positive people left part of the frontal area is more active than its
right. The 'Wisconsin-Madison' research team measured electrical activity in
the frontal part of brain (Area of emotions) of a group of people (after
meditation) and had a hypothesis which said, "the people who meditated
had increased activation in the left side of frontal region and had a better
immune system".
So historically, traditionally,
philosophically and scientifically, its been proved that meditation can renew
your enthusiasm to reach the state of spiritual bliss and intense joy. Mathieu
Richard, who's been proved as the worlds happiest man says," Those who
say they dont have enough time to meditate should look at the benefits. If it
gives you the resources to deal with everything else during the other 23 hrs 30
mins, it seems a worthy way of spending 20 mins". These lines have always motivated me, to start with my
meditation.
So if you are looking for an activity that can
lead you to a serene and fascinating life, it is definitely meditation.
Be an optimist and have an attitude of gratitude
There is a wonderful quote which
says, "It's not happy people who are thankful, it's thankful people who
are happy". Life without gratitude is like mobile without currency or tea without sugar which can never be fully enjoyed.
I
had been for a trip to Agumbe, with my friends to view the most stunning
sunset. But unfortunately, on that particular day, what we could see was only,
the shades of grey painted on sky, the dense clouds. After a while there was a
rainstorm because of which we had to skip our future plans for the day and had
to stay back at the resort nearby. Four of us, had shared a room and we ordered
the service of pakoda's with hot coffee to our room. We were unhappy with the
bad weather ,flopped sunset view, postponed future plans and were discussing
about the same until, I just thought to sit beside window to have my pakoda's
with coffee, until my eye sight shifted towards a puppy, which was fully
drenched in rain, was shivering and trying to seek protection beneath the car.
The view was a sort of enlightenment for me. That particular moment I truly realized
how lucky I am, to have such a cozy room to comfort myself and warmth of a hot
cup of coffee with which I can enjoy the rain. I immediately closed my eyes and
said, "thank you Lord for blessing me with the best possible gifts of the
world". Again, it was a different thought that we could bring the puppy to
my room, but well, how would we do the same for all the puppies, cubs of the
world? A beautiful poem suddenly popped up on my mind.
"Whether the weather be fine,
Or whether the weather be not,
Whether the weather be cold,
Or whether the weather be hot,
We'll weather the weather
Whatever the weather,
Whether we like it or not!"
Life's experiences are like seasons,
which often keeps changing. We can complain the extremities or simply be
thankful for an umbrella during monsoon, sweater during winter or for a fan during summer .
We often have
dissatisfaction and unrealistic expectations from life. We often forget to say
thank you for everything we have. Lets imagine an instance.
Say, if you are helping your friend with some money (the best possible you can)
to initiate his business. And instead of thanking you for the support, if his
attitude said, "I was expecting lot more from you, this is the least help
that anybody would do for a friend to start his business." Don’t you feel
like saying, "Good bye boss, enjoy your business, leave me alone.."?
I would definitely move out thinking, no more giving to the people whose
expectations and complaints never end, despite giving my best to them and especially,
when I receive no single sweet word of gratitude, instead I always keep
receiving list of more expectations".
The
nature naturally does the same with us, when we don’t acknowledge the beautiful
gifts with a greeting of thanks. If we don’t have an attitude of gratitude,
gradually nature will stop giving the precious gifts, snatch your present
happiness and leaves you broken and despair all your life. This is the law of
nature, the law of attraction. The greed of wanting more can never keep you
happy and excited.
To summarize, be an optimist and make
your optimism come true. Never forget to show gratitude for everything you have
in your life today. We are in the midst of opportunities and blessed with the priceless
gifts like, our parents, family, friends, life partner, health, home,
education, wisdom, food, fire, air, water, our organs, beautiful nature,
technologies and lot more. If not all, don’t we have at least some of them
wrapped with few more individual blessings like different skills set and
talents? We are flooded with the reasons to say thank you, right from morning
tooth brush that keeps your teeth healthy, to the night cozy blanket, that
keeps you warm all night. Uttering the
magical words "thank you" with the true feel, keeps you
positive, happy and satisfied. Counting simplest pleasures, brings greatest
joys. There is a saying by Charles Dickens," Reflect upon your present
blessings of which every man has plenty, not on the past misfortunes of which
all men had few". Worries really weigh very less when we start to count
our blessings".
To hope for the best, with a hold of trust,
To do just and forget the rest,
To be too gentle to concern yourself,
To accept others with no criticism,
To spread the fragrance of your gentle smile,
To offer yourself to someone, for smiles,
To speak health, hope and happiness to everyone
you meet,
To share someone's grief and lighten the spark
of hope,
To have love in your heart for everyone,
To render a helping hand for someone,
To succeed in an adventure of knowing yourself,
To live the life of your heart's choice,
To live in faith that the whole world is on your
side,
To live like there is no tomorrow,
This is what life is all about,
This is what happiness is all about.
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery.
For, every 'today', if lived well*, makes every yesterday a memory of happiness
and every tomorrow a vision of hope. So delight your present to infinity
and beyond. Jump with joy, fall in love, go crazy, smile often, make mistakes,
cherish memories, bunk classes, tease friends, crack jokes, laugh uncontrollably,
talk expressively, kiss passionately, scream spontaneously, play rigorously, As
quoted by Chetan Bhagat,"We aren’t programmed devices or robots." We
are humans, the feeling beings. God gave us the gift of life, it's up to us to
give ourself, the gift of living well.
Nobody can go back and start a new
beginning but anyone can start today and make a new ending. Lighten the candle
of happiness within yourself and help others to lighten their candle. Let’s
spread the light of happiness to see how wonderful the world is :)
