Suppose you live for 80 years. Almost one-third of the time goes into sleeping. And then, you spend around 2 hours eating, which is 7 years.
Another hour per day in bathrooms and toilets, for more than 3 years. Then there is work, school, and chores, nearly 20 years of your life. And you spend 5 years in traffic, if not more.
If you count the number of days you have really spent being happy, being in deep love and affection, you will hardly find that it will be around 4-5 years of your entire life.
What are we seeking in our lives? Is it lots of money? Is it good health? Is it to travel the world? Is it to meet lots of people? Is it power or sex? You will see behind all that, there is one common thing- we are all seeking happiness. If money or travel didn’t make you happy, would you want it? Every living creature wants to be happy. And that happiness is not out there somewhere. It’s right here and now. Despite all the challenges, how can you celebrate life and be happy?
Happiness is your nature, yet you become miserable for some reason or another.
The key to happiness is to keep stress at bay. Stress and happiness can’t coexist. You can’t say, ‘I’m happy, and I’m so stressed.’ If you are not stressed, nothing can make you unhappy. If you are all muddled up, angry, agitated, anxious, and uncertain, happiness, though it is your true nature, you will not be able to experience it.
A stressed person can’t see beauty even in a compliment; they feel it is an insult, not an appreciation. They are unable to enjoy humour and fun.
Is life worth living without humour? Absolutely not.
But if we are free from stress, we are more centred and can turn criticism into humour. Make yourself so strong that nobody can insult you. Because what they say is either funny or foolish, and in both cases, the right response is laughter, not anger.
Practice Contentment
Contentment is a practice. As a child, it was not a practice; it was your nature. You had your food, you had a good sleep, you had some toys to play with, and you were content. Contentment was natural to you. But we moved so far away from that. Now, feeling a lack has become a part of us.
To counter the sense of lack, you need to practice contentment.
See all that you have instead of focusing on the lack, and then you will find contentment. And what does contentment do? It enhances happiness. The hand of happiness has not left anybody untouched. It has influenced everyone, but we brush it aside because we are discontent.
Wake up now, here, just this moment, that’s it. Whatever is, is. Embracing that which is, this moment, you have nothing but contentment.
Breathing Techniques, Meditation and Sowing Positive Seeds
Before you sleep, observe your last thought. Usually it is your failures, your negativity, and this is what we sow into our inner space. We wake up feeling tired, exhausted, and frustrated. But if at night you put your attention on your achievements, on good thoughts, wishes, prayers; put it in the space, relax, go to sleep, you wake up feeling fresh and alive.
Meditation and breathing techniques are like ploughing the subtle inner space. Just sow a seed on sandy soil with no water, it will not grow. You need to plough the soil first, then the seed grows. Sow positive thoughts there, you do get happy results.
Happiness only appears to be a far-fetched reality. It isn’t. You can be Happy right now! You don’t need to wait for stars to align.
