Sustainable Happiness

‘You got a dream. You gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you you can’t do it. If you want something, go get it.’
                                                                ~~Chris Gardener, The Pursuit of Happyness

The good news is there is happiness. But only as much as we have. We can choose to be happy and sustain it too. 

Here are seven simple resolutions or intentions I have worked on recently to achieve better happiness quotient in daily life.

One Thing at a Time
I was going on an even keel for many months together. Recently, I found some impatience creeping in as I was becoming prey to multitasking. At the end of the day, the only thing I yearned for was a well-planned day.

Planning is essential for sustainable happiness. I made a small happiness resolution chart and the first thing that went in was ‘one thing at a time’. Multitasking distracts and allows free space for even negative thoughts and fruitless activities. This drains one completely. Most of the tasks were given time slots and I tried to stick to it. Bigger ones were broken down into small units.

More productivity, lesser anxiety, and more free time for relaxation was the result. All these are essential to sustain happiness at a certain level.

Drop the Thought
Just go ahead and drop that thought. Remind yourself it is an off day for the overworked thought machine. Dropping thought gave a feeling of freedom and in turn, strengthened the first resolution of concentrating on just one thing at a time.

Put it Down on Paper
Everything. Everything that is weighing you down, all that clutter, all that you wanted to speak yet swallowed in silence. Write all that down. In big and bold. Vent it out. All negative from your mind will flow out through your fingers. You should not keep it. Dispose of the papers either by burning or soaking in water to a pulp. Repeat. This cleansing process will save you from many creative blocks.

Work is Worship
Work is one of the easiest ways to worship. In spirituality, it is also called ‘seva’. For a simple family man or woman with no ideas of seva, it is even easier to achieve a blissful state. They can think of their loved ones as gods and goddesses and make their routine work more mindful and divine. All the activities can be considered as an offering to The Divine.

This will instantly remove your stress from doing hectic and unappreciated work. What matters is that at the end of the day, you should not feel like not doing what you preferred to do. Happiness can be tweaked into the mind sometimes when we are adamant to be happy.

In other words, most happy people are active and productive throughout the day, and you won’t hear them complaining. All you need is a little bit of surrender.

Take the Responsibility of Your Happiness
Stop the blame game and take responsibility for your happiness at any cost. Happiness is our birthright. Just like meditation is.

This one is a healer.

Embrace Minimalism 
Simplify! Simplify! Simplify!

Swamiji said these empowering words in one of His blogs.

Simplifying our lives is very much essential for sustainable happiness. I had done a great deal of decluttering to make a lot of free spaces. Things that are not usable and still we cling on to occupy a lot of space and hamper the free flow of things we want for our well-being.

Include Others by Sharing
You are blessed if you have a hobby. There is great joy in including
like-minded people in your hobby while you enjoy it. Do it unconditionally. I love reading and I have benefitted a lot from book reviews and bookstagrams. When you read, take out some time (rather plan it) to write a small review about it. This is very helpful not only to the author but to everyone who goes online in search of a book of their choice. Whenever you write, try to include an excerpt from the book along with your opinions. Excerpts allow a reader to get a taste of the book directly and hence they can make a decision.

Likewise, you can share helpful tips with others concerning your fields of interest. This is also considered as a Random Act Of Kindness.

Now, all set, let us sit back and enjoy a little bit of extra Happiness.
Jai Sri Hari.