When happiness leaks out from our life due to daily stress, worries and struggle, we lose our joy and we miss out not only on the beauty and importance of our existence, but also on the gifts that life offers us in abundance.
There is such a thing as a “miracle cure” for all the obstacles on our way to a happy and fulfilled life. Would you like the recipe?
Let’s start with the fact that our life always supports us. Just like any good friend, our life is here for us for “better or worse.” Just like any good friend, it will support us “through thick and thin.” However, if not appreciated, it will leave us to ourselves.
You have probably noticed that there are people in the world whose happy state of being defies any logic, any reasoning we’ve been used to. Those people remain happy no matter what the circumstances. Some of them are poor, uneducated and even illiterate. Some of them lead regular lives, have regular jobs and deal with similar problems as the rest of our society. Some of them may be chronically ill or starving as we speak, somewhere in impoverished countries.
No matter what their background, and no matter what their circumstances, those people have one thing in common: joy of life. It seems to be their natural state of being. We often think of such people as the lucky ones. We tend to say that they were “just born that way.”
Here is good news for you: you too were born that way. Each of us is being born happy and joyous. As little babies, we are naturally trusting and open. Every single human being is born equipped with natural acceptance, curiosity and joy of living. When we lose that joy, we need to remind ourselves that happiness is not a feeling, but a state of mind. We feel in a particular way, because we’ve conditioned ourselves that way.
There is a simple way to reprogram our way of thinking, allowing us to return to our innate joy of life.
Begin by observing the events and people appearing on your path. Notice the true human kindness residing beneath their imperfections. Deep down, we all want the same thing: a peaceful, happy and fulfilled life.
When you see somebody’s good fortune, be happy for them, celebrate their good luck, as if they were your best friends and you wished them well. Find your own joy in other people’s happiness. Even if they are strangers to you, be happy for them. Later on, once you learn how to be happy for others, it will be easier for you to learn your own happiness.
Look for the harmony in all events and notice that you are never alone. Start perceiving everything and everyone as a part of one huge community, where — just like drops in the symbolic ocean — all of us are connected. There is a true beauty and power in that oneness which assures us about our own significance.
Remember to rejoice in simple pleasures: observe nature, and notice how playful animals are, how the vegetation is thriving. All of nature expresses its joy of living, one way or another.
Forgive others for their imperfections, and forgive yourself. When you hold on to resentment and anger, you are giving up your happiness and settling for bitterness and unhappiness instead. You can’t find inner peace, and you lose your joy.
Replace your mind desires with your heart-driven ones. Mind desires are ego driven and their only purpose is to fill the emptiness, escape the feeling of discomfort or anxiety. Escaping and avoiding are rooted in fear and cannot bring us joy. When you feel overwhelmed and lost, find a way to reconnect with the clarity of your heart.
Notice and admit to yourself that comparing your situation to others is pointless and does not help you in any way. You are a unique person, one in billions, and so is your life story. You can truly enjoy who you are, and where you are.
Celebrate your unique life. How does it make you feel, knowing that it can be your best friend?
