Saanams Mind

They say Happiness is a conscious choice and not an automatic response.  Brings to mind  a song ” I beg your pardon , I never promised you a rose garden, along with the sunshine there has to fall a little rain sometimes”  Even the roses when buds have no thorns but as they grow develop thorns, so also humans . As children we lead carefree lives without a care for what happens around and are blessed with a wonderful resilience and ability to bounce back soon. As we grow up we somewhere lose that ability.  We are so caught up in what we do and the surroundings we tend to lose control of not just of our ability to be happy or our control of how life goes on… we lose our whole identity. Thinking over this and reading through some stuff ,I came by a few rules one can live by that can make you hang on to the essence of who you are. Can be a different list for everyone , but here are a few simple ones.

**Always Smile and spread smiles… No matter how hard times may seem, no matter how bad things may be going smile through even your tears…it really does make things look better. Better still make those around you smile and their smiles do warm up your cold heart even on a wintery day Your problems somehow seem more lighter and more handlable.

** Dont pretend , but be who you are… I just stand firm by this one and have believed that fake personas one dons or anything that is not just YOU stands out glaring. Life is so much more simpler when you are yourself. You are comfortable in who you are and there is no stress of  when you may slip out of that farce you don for others. Dont  try to be someone else just because some one expects you to be something. People accept you better when you accept yourself the way you are.

** Do what you enjoy doing… When you love doing what you do, it reaps good returns because it becomes a passion and  stops being something you do just as a job and because you have to do it. When you enjoy it, it becomes a form of relaxation as well and so the stress levels are far less.If your job is not what you love doing, make some time for what you enjoy doing as well for it helps in your individual growth as well.

**Surround yourself with things that bring you great joy. Maybe some people , flowers , pictures and music bring in that joy on your face. Keep them around you always …These may not take away your problems completely but there are people who may make you smile and take away those problems for a lil while they surely will make you feel your problems are what you can  face.

** Be kind.. I find immense peace in this for kindness comes back as easily as hatred. No matter how much a person gets to you, no matter how much they may hurt you, be kind to them even if they dont deserve it…dont be the one to be cruel to them … all you need to do is take a deep breath and  remind yourself  that what you give is what you get and be kind…it goes a long way .

**Forgive easily…by this you do yourself a favour more than the one you forgive because then you let go of all the bad  feelings you hang on to when you dont forgive which kind of eats into you and festers within. I believe for every grudge you hold, you are giving a piece of your soul to the person and allowing them to make mincemeat of it. So for yourself you need to forgive.

** Dont lose that inner child in you, the one that is not afraid of  looking silly, or the one that takes delight in little things.Most of the time we build such a aura of maturity around us that we are afraid that being silly or taking delight in small things may make us seem childish…well its being childlike not childish and therin in that silliness hides a simple route to happiness.

**Try and give 100%  to all that you do . It gives you not only the satisfaction of doing something well, it also gets you appreciation and hardwork always pays off in the end

**Stand up for who you are and what you believe in….never be afraid to stand up for something you strongly believe in, that includes yourself. If you know you are right nothing should stop you from standing up for it because it only makes you stronger  knowing that you stand up for something you believein even if you may lose in the end.

**LIVE…this is the biggest challenge doled out to us… so learn to accept the challenge and live …live every moment of it. Live every breath as if its gonna be your last and make each moment of your life memorable not just for yourself but for those to whose life  you make a difference.

Life is a gift, a blessing and it would do all of us a world of good if we valued each life including our own and make it beautiful . Treat others as well yourself as a precious gift that we are.Then truly it would  be a life well lived.