Tips and Tricks to be Happy Every Day

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Everyone is constantly in pursuit of happiness. Every activity we perform in the world in in fact an expression of this pursuit. But more often than not, we remain either unhappy, or in a state of limbo, in a kind of grey area between happiness and unhappiness. But by bringing in a few changes in the way we keep ourselves and function in the world, we can set an appropriate atmosphere for happiness to bloom by itself. As the Indian spiritual guru Osho’s quotation goes: “You can become happy just by deciding to be happy.”

#1 Practice some Yoga

Yoga has been shown to have several mental and physical benefits for regular practitioners. Yoga has been around for ages, and the ancient Indians devised it as a means towards ultimate liberation or mukti. However, it also has several more “mundane” benefits, including a more vibrant and healthier body, and a more organized and focused mind. Ever been in a situation where you want to do something, but your body and mind just don’t seem to want to co-operate? Well, yoga can fix that and make the body and mind listen to you, rather than do their own things. There is a wonderful quote in the Bhagavad Gita, one of the sacred books of India. Krishna says, “Yoga is perfect evenness of mind.” He informs his disciple that human beings must perform work only after being established within themselves, such that they are alike in victory or defeat. Some idea of the profoundness of the man can be seen from the fact that he says this in the heat of battle, in the midst of a war!

#2 Create the Ambience for Joy

Joy and happiness are states of mind, body, emotion and energy. So, it is important that we provide the right kind of manure for joy to blossom. There is a beautiful quote by Jalaluddin Rumi, the Sufi mystic of the thirteenth century. Rumi says in his verses and poems, or the Mathnawi, “Come, seek, for search is the foundation of fortune. Every success depends upon focusing the heart.” Only when we devote ourselves to what we are doing will we experience the true joy of action. Yes, we may be working as a means to earn a living, but there is no reason why we shouldn’t do our work with enthusiasm and experience it as a joyful process, instead of just as a process to fill our bellies! As Rumi says, “every success depends upon focusing the heart.”

Ananya Mathur