How to find happiness in daily life?
Are you tired of normal, daily life and desperately waiting for your next vacation? Where is happiness? Is it only in vacations and parties or is it also present in a normal daily life? Yes, vacations and parties are exciting and fun but happiness is not present only in them. 80% of our life is a normal, daily routine. How to experience happiness in such a routine life? My experience of meditating for years has taught me that happiness is in both extraordinary moments and ordinary moments of life. Happiness is everywhere. But how to tap into this happiness which is present all around us? Today, I am going to share with you some practices which help you to experience happiness in a routine, normal day. By the end of this article, you will know how to make every day of your life a happy day even if there is no vacation or a celebration or a party.
An experience from my life:
The other morning, I went out for my regular morning walk. This is ‘my time,’ which helps me reflect and go within. As I walked peacefully enjoying my favourite Sunrise time, I heard chirping of the birds around me. These birds were making various kinds of sounds. Listening to these chirping birds, I went into a deep state of happiness. And when I saw the little blades of grass on the ground, I experienced the presence which is peaceful.
These two experiences made me realize that there is so much of happiness in the little normal instances of a day. Sometimes, in life, we think that something big should happen in life for us to feel happy. But this is not the truth. Truth is we don’t need to go anywhere to experience the magic of life. Trees around us, people, animals, birds, grass, rivers, oceans, sky, food, water, air – all these offer bliss. If we can open our hearts, we will find the happiness and magic all around us. How to open our hearts to this magic of happiness? Here are 2 tools that will help you.
Two powerful tools that help you find happiness
1.Meditation: Meditation is a beautiful tool which helps us see the wonders and little joys of life. As we keep meditating regularly, we start experiencing charm and beauty in a normal daily life. We will see beauty everywhere around us, and life never stops fascinating. Little things of life fascinate us and make our life a joyful experience. Apart from this, meditation offers many benefits like inner peace, joy, better immunity, improved health, etc.
So, I invite each one of you to try meditation. Don’t be bogged down by the word meditation. It is simple to learn and easy to practice. If you have never meditated before and wondering how to start it, please read this article – the easiest way to meditate and start your journey. Make meditation a part of your life. As you meditate, you will eventually reach a state where normal things of life will take you into happiness.
2.Gratitude: It is a great privilege to have things like electricity, good infrastructure, freedom to express our thoughts, a loving family, food choices and wide variety of clothes. But many times, we don’t realize these blessings hidden in our life because we take them for granted. When we are healthy, we don’t realize the value of health. When we have a great job, we crib about petty things. So, how to realize the presence and value of such blessings in our life? Gratitude is a great tool that helps us in this aspect.
When we are grateful, we look at life with a new perspective. What we took for granted for many years becomes precious. Every meal, every drink, every comfort we enjoy in life becomes a source of joy when we carry gratitude in our heart. The more grateful you are in life, the happier you become. Here are 5 things you can do to increase your gratitude.
- When you wake up, start your day with gratitude. In this world, not everyone gets a chance to see another morning. Isn’t it a great privilege to see a new day? Another 24 hours deposited into your account.
- Every time you eat something, think how this food is nourishing your body and how much effort went for it to reach you. Think about the farmers, sellers, cooks, planet earth, ecosystem that made it possible for you to enjoy your food. When you think about the effort that went in and the benefits you receive from food, you feel gratitude to the food on your plate.
- When you are stepping into your office, think how your job is giving you financial security and a purpose in life. For a moment, think how life feels when you have no work to do. It feels boring and purposeless right? When you start looking at your job from this perspective, you appreciate it and you start giving your best to the work.
- Whenever you spend money, take a pause and think how money is empowering you. Money is bringing you comforts, good education to your child, quality health services, good food and many more things. So, every time you spend money, take a moment and thank money for helping you live a better life.
- When you are with your family members, take a moment and think about their qualities which you like. Think how these relationships are enriching your life and bringing love and joy into your life.
These are some ways to increase your gratitude in life.
Meditation and gratitude are 2 powerful tools that help you see happiness in a normal, routine life. When you practice these 2 tools, you see happiness all around you. Every day feels special and you don’t need to wait for vacations or parties to celebrate life. Of course, life being life, will bring certain challenges but these tools will give you enough strength to handle these challenges with a calm mind. Want to read more about gratitude and how it can transform your life? Check out my favorite book ‘The Magic’ here.
