Rediscovering Happiness and Joy

What if we take a moment to pause and ponder into our day-to-day reality and reflect into lives on an everyday basis? Can you imagine a life where miracles are a reality and not only wishes? I know this all sounds unrealistic because of our hectic schedules and the competitive world. But the truth is this can be a reality and we do have an opportunity to reflect into our lives. This habit can help us rediscover happiness and joy. We don’t realize that the moment we wake up is a gift of life, a fresh set of 24 hours to see our lives.

The first step towards making this miracle happen is being more attuned to our life and our surroundings. By surroundings I mean the nature. Waking up listening to the humming of the birds is a gift. Imagine when each one of us takes the responsibility of being happy and joy, and the magnitude of it multiplying into this world. We visualize a world full of joy and happiness, but seldom we realize that we are also responsible towards this contribution. Of course, it is very easy for us to get caught up in the day-to-day stress and commotion. But the real test is overcoming this scenario and stepping into the world of miracles. In my experience, I have realized the following steps or methods to combat this chaos:

1. Slowing Down your Breath: Have you realized that when you’re caught into stress and chaos around, your breath becomes too heavy. This is the time when you need to consciously breathe slowly. With each breath, silently tell yourself – “This stress and chaos is the outside manifestation of the world. I allow myself to invoke my inner peace now.” The moment you say this statement, you will notice your breath becoming slower and more conscious. See around the gifts of this life – like the way you’re sitting comfortably and breathing.
2. Smiling to a Stranger: As humans, we love to smile especially towards our loved ones. Imagine when you smile towards a stranger and the person reciprocating the same. The little joy we feel in our heart is something incredible. Visualize yourself walking on the street with a foul mood. And now a stranger smiles at you and says – God Bless. Of course, this will not make you angry. Rather, the foul mood will come to a halt for a moment. We can do the same for someone else. This will lighten them for that moment and bring them to think about you. It will deviate their foul state of mind.
3. Making Quality Relationships: As humans, we feel happy when we are in happy relationships. Our race, caste, creed, color really don’t matter if we are feeling happy in our relationships. I suggest people to join groups or communities where they can share their opinions and views of life openly without feeling judged. This helps us to form strong bonds even if they are strangers. The stronger we feel emotionally bonded, the more we are ready to allow ourselves to be happy and joyous. In fact, at times sharing your differences with a group of non-judgmental people can help you understand the shortcomings within yourself.
4. Feeling Grateful towards our Fellow Beings: Each human being is unique and so are their qualities. Every being we connect with brings with them something special that is worth living. At times, we understand those qualities and most times we are ignorant. It is important to bring our awareness to these qualities which touch our lives. For example, someone who helps you unconditionally in times of need, it is important to non-judgmentally look at their helpful nature. Or another example could be people who willfully accept your flaws and still want you in their lives. Once we realize these gifts and be grateful, we open more doors of happiness and joy in our lives.
5. Constantly meditating and re-centering yourself: Meditation is a journey to make our lives better. It is not something to be done occasionally. Rather, it is a habit one should cultivate to bring more peace and happiness. Centering ourselves with the nature and surroundings helps us to improve the quality of our thoughts. Our thoughts shape our reality. The law of attraction works based on the thoughts we think, and they transform into our reality. Hence, centering yourself is the most important step towards decluttering and inviting joy and happiness.

In a nutshell, we all can be happy and joyful. The world is and always be paradoxical and hence it is our choices in life that determine the quality of our lives. It is our choice to make today. So, what are you choosing?