Finding Happiness In The Simple Pleasures Of Life

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by Jayaram V

What will happen if you are too preoccupied with your daily cares and do not enjoy the little pleasures of life, or take time to relax and enjoy the moment? Your life will become increasingly stressful as you experience unhappiness and dissatisfaction. On the path of life, none can run forever. There are limitations to what one can and cannot do. Those who do not respect those limitations run into trouble. You must know when to run and when to pause to take a fresh breath. Balance is the basis of a stable and secure life. For your wellbeing, you should remain balanced in your thinking, habits or actions, and avoid extremes.

In spirituality we call it moderation or staying on the middle path. The essence of moderation is that you respect the laws of Nature and the limitations to which you are subject and prefer living within those confines to the best of your ability. You can always try to transcend your conditions and circumstances, but it should not be done with a tortuous mentality, risking your own life and survival. In simple terms, you should avoid treading on the edges of high ambition, and choose stable paths that are grounded in the plains of reality

Happiness does not last forever. However you may try, you are bound to suffer from the impermanence of life. Impermanence is woven into our lives. You cannot escape from it. You may win a few battles here and there against it, but in the end impermanence wins. It is certain that whatever you build here on earth is but a castle in the sands of time. It will collapse when death walks over it. What you think is yours today will not stay that way forever. You should always remember this simple truth. You do not have many options against the imminent destructibility of life. You can make peace with it, ignore it, or fight with it. If you remember it frequently you will become wiser in your thinking and actions.

By understanding peace and impermanence, you can learn to adapt to the conditions they create and make the best out of the little moments of happiness that life offers to your or you create on your own. If you choose happiness as your priority, you will improve your chances of experiencing happiness. If you frequently remember that you are entitled to peace and happiness, you will find happiness in unexpected places. The following affirmations are meant to help you in this regard. Remember them occasionally, until they are firmly etched in your memory and become part of your consciousness.

I deserve peace and happiness

I know a well-educated lady who spent her whole life trying to impress her husband and win his approval. She somehow felt she was born to sacrifice her comforts for his. Although she was well qualified, she chose to remain a housewife. Her orthodox parents ingrained in her mind that her job was to make her husband happy. Eventually, he divorced her, since she could not bear children, and married a younger woman. Do not condemn yourself to drudgery because you have to prove to others how good you are, or allow yourself to be humiliated by your own negative self-talk, which wants to tell that you are never good enough. You are not here to impress others, earn their approval, or win their acceptance. You are not here to fit into the clothes society stitches for you. You are here to be yourself, and express your uniqueness, even if means earning some social disapproval. You should not also let your inner critic ruin your life. Your uniqueness is your gift to the world. What else can you give to the world, other than the individuality that you have? Therefore, know that you are the master of your life and you deserve peace and happiness. Frequently tell yourself, "I deserve peace and happiness."

I can choose to be happy

Do you really choose to be happy? Think about it. Have you ever made happiness a priority in your life? Have you ever tried to make yourself happy consciously? Many people think about being happy, but do not choose to be happy. Happiness is a choice. Your happiness depends upon how you interpret your daily experiences and what choices you make to keep yourself peaceful and happy. If you choose to be happy, you will guide your thinking and actions accordingly. You will try to look for opportunities to make yourself happy. You will cultivate a positive mindset to shield yourself from the difficulties of life. If you have chosen to be happy, it should reflect in your thinking and actions. Your choices should increase your chances of happiness, rather than decreasing it. If you have chosen to be happy after another twenty years, after marrying off your youngest child, you have not chosen well. You must seek happiness here and now, in whatever circumstances you may find yourself, and it must be reflected in your actions.

I can aim for happiness in the simple pleasures of life

Do not look for happiness at the end of the road. You should look for happiness in the simple things of your life. Every day, you can have countless opportunities to experience peace and happiness. For example, you can pause during a hectic schedule and take a deep breath. You can savor a cup of coffee, look out of the glass window behind your desk and enjoy the view of the sky or the street, or eat your food with gratitude. You can talk to a friend you love dearly, go for a walk in the nearby park or go on a drive during the weekend to a nearby scenic spot. If you are sincere, you will find innumerable such opportunities to enjoy the simple pleasures of life and lighten up. It is those little moments that make up most of your life and it is where you have more opportunities to choose happiness instead of depression and gloom.

I can make others happy

Too much of selfishness is not good. Selfish people experience a great vacuum in the end. It is not proper to think just about your own happiness or try to be happy at the expense of others. I have seen enough ignorant people who make fun of others with sadistic pleasure to keep themselves laughing. Those who crack jokes against others in a demeaning way do so because of a deep sense of inferiority. If you want to experience true happiness, you should think of others' happiness too. You can make many people happy in your daily life, by just being pleasant to them, paying attention to them, appreciating them, helping them, letting them be, and sharing with them your positive feelings. Happiness is the greatest gift that you can give to others. It does not cost you any money. You do not have to necessarily throw a grand gala party to make others happy. You do not have to take them on an expensive trip to Paris, or shower them with costly gifts. You can do it if you can afford such an extravagant lifestyle. However, you can also make others happy by just being human, kind, considerate, polite, and humble. If you make other people happy, you will have no shortage of friends and well-wishers, and through them, you experience more happiness.

I can share other's happiness

Happiness is contagious. Unless you are envious or have issues with your self-esteem, you will feel happy when you see others happy. By meeting happy people, you can become happy. One of my friends has few close relations, who live in the same town where he lives. In fact, they live within five minutes distance from his house. During normal times, they never care to talk to him, call him or visit him. They also ignore the invitations he sends to them to attend the parties he holds in his house. However, whenever he is hospitalized because of a chronic health problem he has, they invariably come to see him in the hospital. My friend even wonders whether it is because they enjoy watching him being sick rather than being happy. It is important that you should share other's happiness whenever you find an opportunity. You can console people who are going through adversity, but you should also remember to talk to them when they want to share their happiness with others. Find time to congratulate people when they achieve success or cross a milestone. Show them that you are happy for them and you care for them.

Happiness is a choice. It depends upon your thinking, beliefs and interpretations, not necessarily upon the conditions and circumstances of your life. You can choose to be happy by accepting the conditions life offers to you and making the best out of them. Happiness is also a gift that you can give to yourself and others by just being good to yourself and others. It does not cost you any money to be happy. You can find happiness in the simple pleasure of life by choosing happiness as your priority and opening your mind and heart to the innumerable opportunities life offers to you to experience it.

Source: Reproduced partially from the book Think Success by Jayaram V. You may purchase this book from our online store