5 keys to happiness - Day 2 - Art of Living

Welcome! To yet another post in the Art of Living series.

Here, I would like to introduce 5 extremely important keys to happiness.

Keys? Wait you mean like unlock 5 magical doors and voila, happy forever? Are there 5 doors?

Haha, you could think of it like that :) but consider these more like ideas, values, or tenets to live by, which will make your daily life much easier to live. You would find your daily stresses melt away, and find yourselves much happier.

5 KEYS TO HAPPINESS

1: Opposites are complements. Don't fight them.

When there's light, there's darkness. When there's heat, it is followed by a cold season. As you can see, nature by itself has a dualism that is prevalent in our daily life. We know that we cycle through life, going through different phases. If there's sadness right now, know that happiness is around the corner, coming up soon.

Thus, we should not get too troubled in sad times, or lose our mental peace, because happier times will come soon. This helps keep us grounded and centered and withstand the rigors of life much more easily.

2: Accept People and situations the way they are.

Sometimes, we might find people are unnecessarily rude to us, or they're going out of their way to trouble us. Know that in such situations, we must learn to hold our own, keep our heads held high, and not worry too much about changing the other person. One key way to remember it is this - When you cannot change the behavior of even your own family, how do you expect to change anyone else's behavior? Why would they listen to you?

In the same vein, being troubled by their toxic behavior towards you will only cause anguish in your own heart, which in turn will lead you to have an unhappy life and possible health problems. Do you want that? Of course not!

So, accept people the way they are and move on. This does not mean you have to be nice to them or even talk to them. Ignore them, don't think about them, and move on :)

3. Don't be a football of other people's opinion

Often, we find ourselves burdened by what other people think about us. It could be that one girl you like, it could be your relatives, parents, anyone.

But what does that do to you?

Firstly, it brings a lot of stress and anxiety because now you're not focusing on what you want, but on what that other person expects from you.

Secondly, you become a football of other people's opinion. Your thoughts, actions, everything gets governed by what you want to project. You are no longer true to yourself and working for your own happiness, but rather a figment of someone else's imagination of what you should do, what you should be.

This duality is really detrimental to your own happiness. Working to please others makes you an inauthentic person, if you're not true to yourself how can you ever be happy? You will always worry about whether that other person thinks I am good or not.

Also, does that other person even care for you? In the case of your parents probably yes, but if it's someone other than your parents, they've probably given you some bad remarks and forgotten about you that very second! Is there any point in pleasing someone like that? No! right?

So, do yourself a favor, never be a football of other people's opinion. The only kind of football you should care about is the one on espn, 'nuf said.

4. Don't see any intention behind other people's mistakes

Sometimes, people will make mistakes that might cause you to be unhappy. But know that, no human being is pristine or perfect. We are not Gods, everyone will make a mistake once in a while. That doesn't mean they are deliberately trying to harm you.

Think of it this way. If you make a mistake, you would expect others to forgive you, right? Then, why not do the same for the other person? Forgive them, if possible even make amends with them and give them a second chance!

Remember, you might feel like I am advising something very philosophical here, but isn't forgiving someone else releasing a burden from your own heart? If you hold onto them and hate them, what does that do to them? Nothing. What does it do to you? It takes away your mental peace and health. So, you're doing yourself a favor :)

5. Present moment is inevitable

A lot of us need to learn this. I myself find that either I'm ruminating over past mistakes or embarrassing moments, or always worried about what the future holds.

But, do we have any control over what we did in the past? If a time machine were to ever be invented probably yes, but until then there's nothing we can do to change what happened. Similarly, do we know what the future holds?

The only control we have is on the present. If we choose to stay happy and give our best to our friends and family, we unlock this 4th key to happiness. Remember, choosing to be happy in the present is something you have complete control over. You could start doing this right now!

Think of how glad you are to be alive, to have friends and family who care about you, to have a nice roof over your head, and great food to eat. These small pleasures of life often get overlooked and we forget to enjoy them. If you ever go to a nice garden, think of how glad you are to enjoy that moment, the cool air brushing past your face, the greenery and flowers. It is a miracle to even be alive :) things will happen in their due course. Everyone has a place on this earth, so don't forget to enjoy the present moments with your loved ones.

Think of everything you're grateful for. I would even suggest a mindfulness journal to help with this. I will link some great ones for you to buy in the additional links section.

So there you have it! These simple ideas can help make your daily life much more simple. Take your time and try to internalize them, and implement them, one at a time. I am sure you will see amazing improvements in your daily living.

Additional links -

Art of living happiness article

https://www.thevibrantwriter.com/5-life-lessons-art-living-happiness-program/

The 11 Best Mindfulness journals

https://www.happierhuman.com/mindfulness-journals/