Is Success is a State of Mind /or Illusion of Senses?

Every field, every activity, every work is made in certain format (of rules). For example, speaking in a certain manner before a  Judge is the format of advocacy. Speaking in a certain manner before an audience is the format of public speaking. There a set parameters which ought to be followed. The one who excels in elucidation in law/advocacy may be successful in law , but the question is does he ought to do such activity just because he is good at it?

The answer has to be a definate : No. Just because you are good in certain formats and you think you might get recognition in it should not be a deciding factor in determining your profession. The format you should choose should be determined by your (1) Passion (2) Surrounding Circumstances. Unless you are filled with passion for an activity doing it over a period of time can become boring, mundane. Your field of work/activity should not be determined at the cost of your life.Meaning thereby that your family conditions should not suffer at the cost of your work.

Success/ Recognition is are always not a relevant factor for the best legends in any field/ activity. This is the truth of life. Nobody tells you this because everybody is in a mindles race. For example, a kungfu master need not participate in world championship to prove his worth to oneself / others. Masters are always master. You can always identify them through their conduct/life/work.Passion and dedication to your chosen field without the aim of being treated as a champion is the true sign of a real life champion.

It is futile to treat to consider your success in certain format/ field as your starting and end point in life. Success should not be so important in your life that you should give up all your life for it.

Success does not mean more happiness in life. For example, an olympian silver medalist cribs that he hasn't got a gold in world championship.He works like a bull for gold, and retires a silver medalist. This life is worse than that of a farmer who by doing physical labour is able to make his ends meet. Nobody gives importance to the silver medalist, whereas, the honest farmer has family and relatives who will remember him after his life ends.

So, success is NOT equal to happiness.

       

Immediate Mood Uplifters

Are you feeling bogged down due to problem at home/ office? Are you feeling a little low? If yes, this blog will help you to get out of this low mood. There are certain activities which elevate the mood without any harm to body/ mind. These activities are stated hereinunder. Follow/ practice them, you will feel better in a matter of minutes. These activities are:

(1) Go to market near your house / office and observe a begger begging for few pennies. He pleads to people to give him a trifle amount of money. You will also see beggers without leg/ hand. The reason for doing this activity is to re-assure yourself that you are always in a better position in life that a lot number of people. If you think your life harsh , then see theirs and you will know that you are more blessed than you think.


(2) List your achievements.Everbody has achieved something or the other in one's life. It could be as good as you were topper in school or as low as scoring a first division. Be liberal while counting and listing your achievements. The reason of this activity is to reaffirm to oneself that one can overcome impending problems as you already have overcome many problems to achieve your achievements. Give yourself a pat on the back for having made it to where you are.Try it, it works.

(3) Cultivate a hobby and practice it in hard times to get your mind out of worry. It could be as vigorous as badminton or as not so as in case of PC games. Practice of Hobby is a stress buster. It engages your all faculties of mind atleast. Mind is like a wild horse, train it to forget pains while doing your hobby. 

(4) Sing and dance. Not necessarily in public. Sing along with your favourite song. Dance to your favourite tune. Singing and dancing adds a new dimension to your life. It erases pain/ boredom. Do this, and see the results.       

How to come out of Depression????

Depression is a state of unhappiness which controls your mind and body. Depression can be do some failure, some accident, some unfortunate turn of events. What ever may be the reason of your depression, the following tips will help you combat depression. The tips are :

(1) Go to your park next to your house/place of work and play with children. This prima facie looks as a unconventional technique, but believe me it works. Just play cricket, football,etc with children you will forget about your depression. I am saying about playing with children because children have that pure, unadulterated sense of being i.e. no deceit, no double meaning talks, no cynical talk, etc.

(2) Keep yourself busy. Empty mind as we all know is an devil's mind. If you keep busy by doing some work you don't have much time to ponder about your problems.Being a bit of a workalcoholic at this time would do some good.

(3)Read jokes, whatever category of jokes you love. If few jokes can give laughter it is worth trying. Jokes help you to have sometime/transient type of happiness and hence should be followed along with other techniques, and not in isolation.

(4)Get some physical activity. Put on your boots and jog/ run a bit. It gets out some of the repressed need for aggression. Run a mile and feel the difference. To know about research about the relation between exercise and happiness go through my E-book 'The Elixir', available at http://www.attaininghappiness.com/
(5) Discuss your problems with your soulmate. Everybody has some person who is his/her troubleshooter , it could be your mom, dad, husband, wife,etc.Discussing your problems helps out in venting your negative thoughts and by seeking some advice you are replacing the worry with a possible solution in the mind.
        
(6)Visit your local garden near your home/ office, and give yourself time to look at various types of flowers, plants, trees,etc. Going close to Nature is a mantra for having happiness. Chuck your shoes, and try walking bare foot on the green grass, it generally feels great and soothing. 

(7)  Use positive affirmations. Meaning: write down positive statements about your life. For Example write : I have parents , hence I feel great. The more postive statements you recite or write your overall feeling of sadness will reduce a bit.

(8)Listen to Music. I have in my earlier post on Music have written about happiness and music, available at : http://attaininghappiness.blogspot.com/2011/11/magic-of-music.html.
I am not saying that you have to hear Mozart.etc , just listen to the kind of music you like to sing along. So even if its Rap,etc it will still work.However, you must try instrumental music which one may like when in bad depression phase.


(9) Remember that every problem has a solution , affirm this statement to yourself a couple of times. It will make you feel immediatley better. Use the following techniques in order to find the answer to your problem:
(a) be open to unconventional ideas.
(b)be willing to discuss ideas with family and friends.


(10) Try meditation. It is trying to centre your focus at one place/ thing. All the worries melt away once you can focus on another issue or inner peace. Try to get some instrumental music to play in the background when you are trying to meditate.

(11) Eat healthy food, don't eat junk food ,etc. You might have noticed that if you eat fresh vegetables after your food is over you still feel active and fresh, whereas if you eat oily food you feel sluggish or lazy.


(12) Eat a bit of dark chocolate as much as your health allows. There is research to prove the link between happiness and chocolate. Find the research in my E-book 'The Elixir', available at http://www.attaininghappiness.com/.            

The Power of Inner Voice

Every human has a inner voice. Most of the times we don't listen to it because we are not trying to focus are senses to the problem at hand. We must observe a period of silence and/ or meditation  every day , for a few minutes, to get answer to our problems. When the mind is filled with random thoughts the answer to the problem does not appear. We are too busy to complicate the problem solving process.

For example, if I have a problem , I will ask ten people about their opinion on the issue , then count the pros and the cons of each opinion. Then apply the mind.

The answer to all problems is to follow the heart and apply your brain to achieve the solution (i.e. dil ka khel dimag se karna).   If you follow  this simple fact of life you will have less complications in your life. Don't make your life a web of opinions of tens of people. Don't cringe on other's opinion.

Now an issue arises as to whether or not we should go by pure parent's advice.

The answer is : We before the age of 18 , should normally don't let inner voice govern us as we have not seen the world. Only after the age of around 25 years one should starting giving importance to own inner voice though giving due respect to parent's advice. Friend's advice should generally be taken as an opinion of tertiary value, unless your friend specialises in the same field as the problem.    

Be the Change!!!

We all crib, some do it less some do it more. We find flaws in our daily life and crib about god and others not giving you your due. But, the fact is that we are all given a chance at life. We see glass half empty and not half full. This approach leads to misery. We feel bad that we are unfortunate. A simply way to outcome this misery cycle is to maintain a 'gratitude book' where you frequently write the positive aspects of your life. Try it out it really works. To know more about power of gratitude visit my E-Book, 'The Elixir', available at: http://www.attaininghappiness.com/

Now how about being the change?


This means our cribbing can stop by being the change i.e. take active role in changing your life. Everybody is afraid of change. But, change is the only constant. Change is the life force. Change is the only truth of life. Adopt Change  and see how problems seem as opportunities for life.

For example, if you don't like your house , i.e. it is becoming  dilapidated. You have no money for overhaul. See and think of your house as a heritage site and ancient monument. And do whatever is the means. Rest leave to God. It is his job to get you out of the dilapidated house into new flat. Cherish old memories about your old house. Treat with respect. You will soon see a problem as an opportunity to maintain a heritage site.      

Is your CV your life????

I hate to admit but it was my life also during my college days...striving for the best internships... aim at more marks ...try to outbeat others.....win competitions. But, now I have found out that this is not the way to live one's life. Life , as I think, to be is an opportunity to live and experience diverse circumstances and situations. Life is not to be wasted with going on to  compete with others. There is more to life then peer competition. Life has a job component attached to it. That is right. But, you should work for living and not live for work. The question arises how to balance between work and life?

 Do job for definate/limited  number of hours. And enjoy life afterwards.

The question arises what if you are not your own boss.

The answer is : if you are good at your job, people allow you to be more flexible with the timings. Everybody wants work and not your presence.


Cherish life till it is there. You have only one life. Enjoy it. Work should never dictate your life. Workalcholics should work a little less and try out to go to a green park. You will feel better walking bare feet on grass, than doing work. Try this out. It will help.    


     

Magic of Music

Music touches one's soul (rooh). Nothing except prayers to God can do this. The difference in feeling music and praying is sometimes very narrow. Such music is also called sufi music. So is this an advertisement about sufi music? No, it is not. The basic point i am trying to convey is that Music as a medium to feel elation, euphoria and happiness is definately a good one.

Then arises a question when did you last sway at the playing of your favourite music tone?

If the answer to this question is that it has been a long time. Then maybe you have not realised the power of music. Music is invigorating. Music is elation.

Then arises a question that if one is at the place of work or is doing certain commercial activity  how can one put jeering music. The answer lies in "Ambient Music".Try playing this kind of music at low volume. You will feel the difference with in a few days. You will feel more calm and composed. To strive to be happier is the strive of music also.

Another debate which has been surrounding music is that can music heal?

The answer is yes. Music does make you calm admist bad times. Music has healing powers. Music heals the soul. Next time you face an adversity try to remember your favourite tune / song , you will feel your spirit has elevated. For knowing more about the power of music in achieving happiness refer to my E-book 'The Elixir', available at: http://www.attaininghappiness.com/