We do everything for our happiness only!
We work, earn, spend, smile, watch IPL, learn yoga, go to gym, sing in the bathroom, fight with friends, go on fasting, eat a lot, make new relations and even break them for our happiness only.
In short, we are simply obsessed with our happiness. If we succeed in something that we do, we become happy and the vice- versa.
But if you look at our daily lives, we treat happiness exactly like we treat the local train or a city bus—we are always chasing it, desperately trying to catch it before it pulls away.
The fundamental challenge with our collective pursuit of joy and happiness is that we have turned it into a conditional, futuristic transaction. We postpone our joy, telling ourselves: “I will be happy when…..<a condition of our own>”. With this; eventually we become absolute masters at postponing our joy by putting conditions to it.
This way we spend our entire life running on a psychological hedonic treadmill wherein we either live in future waiting for it to be perfect, or longing for the past if today is painful. However, we cannot live in yesterday because it’s gone, and tomorrow is always a myth; the only option left is to live life today, right here, right now.
Instead of doing things to get happiness, the secret is to do everything happily.
When we do something just to find joy, there is a 50-50 chance we might fail and may end up being miserable. But if we perform the action happily from the start, we secure the joy immediately, we do not need to cross the finish line to be happy. According to ancient Indian wisdom, the true sources of happiness are not waiting for us at some distant finish line. Instead, it provides a brilliant framework by highlighting three distinct channels through which we express our inherent joy and happiness: our body, our speech, and our mind. This can be called as a 3D (three dimensional) framework for a happy life!
The Dimention of the Body (The Physical Hustle) -The ancient Indian wisdom advocates a technique which boils down to a very simple rule: avoid taking unnecessary service from others and learn to do your own work. When you do any physical activity cheerfully and willingly, you don’t feel depleted. Real tiredness and frustration do not come from hard work; they come when you are forced to do something which do not make you happy. By executing your physical responsibilities happily and responsibly, we take the first bold step for connecting our body to mind, the stepping stone for our own happiness. In modern-day science of wellbeing, this is referred to dopamine boost through physical activity that support our brain’s reward and motivation pathways.
The Dimention of Speech (The Filtered Words)-The second dimension is our speech. If we have to speak, how should we do it? We should speak words that are soft, amiable, and pleasant. Unfortunately, we often use our speech as a weapon to vent our frustrations. When the mind is unhappy, the words that come out are sharp and bitter. But when we consciously anchor yourself in a happy state, our speech naturally sweetens. We stop using bad words, we stop gossiping, and our communication becomes a source of comfort to those around us, rather than a source of stress.
The Dimention of the Mind (The Creative Engine)-The final dimension is the mind. A happy mind is inherently creative, whereas an unhappy, frustrated mind is inherently destructive. When we stop treating the mind like a processing unit for worries about the future and regrets about the past, it begins to generate positive, vibrant, and constructive thoughts.
By aligning these three human centric dimensions; ensuring our actions express joy, our speech reflects harmony, and our mind remains creative—we experience the real fulfilment of life being truly happy.
However, all these are not rocketing science; we more or less know this. But despite knowing all this, why do so many of us end up being unhappy?
It is because we are constantly willing to trade our peace of mind for trivial things. We get into screaming sessions over traffic jams, we ruin our evening because a neighbour parked an inch over the line, and we lose sleep over corporate office politics.
We must realize that our peace of mind is the single most valuable asset we possess. It is the highest and most important commodity in our life, and it is absolutely non-negotiable.
The true happiness is experienced with the ability to maintain this inner tranquillity under all external conditions. The world outside will always be chaotic—busses will be late, flights will be cancelled, internet will lag right during an important meeting, cellular calls will fail.
But, the rule of life should be simple— nothing outside should have the power to disturb us and our inner tranquillity.
Happiness is not a prize we win after surviving a lifetime of misery; it is the fuel that helps us enjoy the ride. So, the next time you find yourself waiting for a bus, stuck in a traffic jam, or working on a deliverable, change your outlook. Don’t look for happiness at the end of the activity. Instead bring in happiness to the activity — guard your peace of mind like a precious possession, and watch how everyday life transforms from a stressful struggle into a cheerful celebration called – the happy life!
Do let me know if the 3D (three dimensional) framework for a happy life works for you!
On your marks Get Set Go happy!
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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