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Life throws umpteen challenges at you and you end up wondering if you are a fielder in some cricket ground. You are confused deciding whether you should catch them or allow them to cross the boundaries. And, in the process of fielding whatever life has to throw at you, you sometimes get stuck up in a black-hole and get a feeling of discontentment and unhappiness. After all, it is not humanly possible to achieve everything in life, right? And, there is always something that pricks your conscience and makes you feel helpless. Well, guess what, the choice of being happy or not, actually depends upon you and you alone. If you want to be unhappy, even winning a lottery cannot make you feel happy as you would probably think about the tax cuts. 🙂

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There is a major difference between how an optimist and a pessimist looks at life. While an optimist sees opportunities even in his failures, the pessimist will even convert his success into failures. While it would not be easy to become an optimist overnight, the idea is to maintain a balance and achieve some moderation.

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So, what is the key to happiness? Wish there was some secret formula, which could lead to eternal happiness. I have heard that alcohol or drugs can give you some temporary happiness but these can also cause permanent damages. And, they definitely are not worth taking the risk, are they? Well, I give below some simple and doable things which might actually make you happy. It definitely works for me, most of the times.

  1. Don’t listen to others. Do you know something? Out of the 100 people that you meet, 80 people will always find a fault with you. And, it could not be because you have a problem, but because they have a problem with their mind-set. In fact, I have realized that people tend to make you feel guilty, even without intending to, sometimes. If you are doing A, they would expect you to do B, and if you are doing B, they would say that you should have continued with A. So, stop living your life as per other people’s standards. Set your own standards and live accordingly. At the end of the day, you should be contended and happy and that is what matters.
  2. Be positive: Our lives have become so stressful that we have forgotten to live and enjoy. And, if something goes wrong personally or professionally, we tend to hit the bottom of our emotions. We, humans are so fragile that even the smallest of incidents can leave a huge impact on us. So, for a change, why don’t you think about the positive side of things? Even the worst calamities in life can have something positive to teach you and you will have a lot to learn from them.
  3. Set achievable targets and prioritize them. Are you torturing yourself with tasks that are not achievable? Why don’t you set some small and achievable tasks which can give you happiness once they are accomplished?
  4. Find happiness in the smallest of things. There are some really simple things which can give you tremendous amount of happiness. Happiness is just a state of mind and it totally depends upon you to be either happy about what you have or to be unhappy about what you do not have. It is like viewing the glass as either half-full or half-empty. For me, my simple happiness bucket would include having pizzas with my kids, visiting a bookstore and picking up some books, playing a game of scrabble with my son, building houses with Lego toys, a game of table tennis with kids, a night stroll after dinner with the family or simply lazing around reading a book. What is in your bucket-list?
  5. Go for walks. Exercise your body and your mind so that your good mood endorphin gets released. And, when you go for walks, try to breathe the fresh air and observe your surroundings. In fact, I love the sight of kids playing in the sand in the park, without a care for the world. How we wish we could be like them, right? Why did we ever think that adulthood would be more interesting?
  6. Talk to your loved ones. This is really important. Make it a practice to call up your parents regularly, if they are staying far. And, do keep in touch with everyone who is important in your life. Recently, when my youngest mama/uncle passed away, I felt quite guilty as I had not called him up in the last 2 months. In fact, I never expected him to die so soon, but that is no excuse for not keeping in touch, right? There is no surety to life, so do pick up the phone and call. Whatsapp or Facebook might give you a preconceived notion of being connected but they do not give that personal touch.
  7. More importantly, believe in yourself. Even if you face rejections and failures, do not forget to believe in yourself. Remember that life is too short to waste away on such things. So what if your project didn’t work, or you were fired from your job, you still have your physical and mental faculties intact, which is more important. There is nothing more important than life and living.

Happiness is not measured by the amount of money that you have, the kind of car that you drive, or the posh locality that you live in. Happiness is measured by the number of smiles that you help create, the number of lives that you touch, the love that you help build in your family, and the overall contentment that you feel. So, do change your measuring yardstick and look at some simple pleasures. Your life would be less complicated and more contented.

And, if nothing works well for you, just put your hand on your chest and sing this song.. 🙂

All iz well….

Jab life ho out of control, tho honton ko karke gol…

Honton ko karke gol, seeti bajaake bol..

All iz well…. !!!!

This is my happiness anthem… 🙂

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