A Blue print for Joyful Life

At each stage of life, it is human nature to feel that the things would be better at the next stage. One would tend to think that he will be happy after getting a good job and a healthy pay packet. At some point the feeling of frustration creeps in and he would feel that he would be happy once he gets married and have children. This search for happiness continues as he passes through each stage. The truth is there is no better time to be happy than right now. Life is full of challenges. It is better to admit as much and decide to be happy in spite of it all. There is no road to happiness. Happiness is the road.

To quote the words of Greek Philosopher, Democritus, “Happiness resides not in possessions and not in gold.” Happiness of life is made of minute fractions like a simple smile, a helping hand, a heartfelt compliment and countless other infinitesimals of pleasurable thought and genial feeling. The sad part is in our pursuit of happiness we fail to recognize this magnificent feeling that is just there right at the end of our nose.

Happiness is, in fact, living with a sense of fulfillment and peace. It is a belief in the fundamental goodness of people, in the value of compassion, a policy of kindness, and a sense of unity among all living beings.

Follow the dog

Physical transformation is possible, if like the ancient yogis, we follow the actions of young animals. Watch the young dog. It is always in movement and bouncing and stretching. Make physical movement a part of your daily life. As the salesmen say ‘Cover territory instead of covering your chair’. ‘Use it or lose it’ said Jane Fonda. Violent physical exercise once a week is no use, if you’re just vegetating for the rest of the week in front of the T.V or computer. Listen more and bark less, use non verbal actions to show unconditional affection to family and friends.

Listen to your body. If you are tired, rest. If you are hungry, eat. If you are lonely, communicate, ask for a hug. If you are angry, deal with your anger constructively, resolve it. The body is our vehicle for the journey of our soul in this world. You may be an immortal soul who happens to own a body, but the body-vehicle has to be maintained in good condition, so that we may achieve the goals for which we were created.

Turn on the fountain of love to help find joy

The latest corporate buzz is to make people happy at workspace - to liberate the butterflies, turn on the fountain of love and to help find joy in the small things in life. "In workspace, people should have two real daily laughs - the first laugh and the last laugh’

"Companies were waking up to the need to make their workers happy. At ICICI Bank, in one of its Mumbai branches, allows its workers to bring their kids to the workplace on Saturdays. The children have fun for a couple of hours while their parents work. And then they take off directly from the office for the weekend," people spend two-thirds of their working hours in office and happy employees can do double the work compared to their unhappy colleagues. Nowadays more and more women were working from home after they have babies.

Preventing stress is a negative way of looking at life; "instead, fill your mind with your garden of poetic emotions like laughter, wonder, love and compassion to counter lust, anger, obsession, greed, jealousy, fear and repulsion.”

Pursuit of happiness

Around every person there is a field of emotional energy. Some people always look radiant, and everything in their life flourishes and grows. They have a positive energy field around them. Some people, on the other hand, always have a morose or tense air about them, and everything in their life seems to fade and die. They have a negative energy field around them. A positive field is created by positive emotions and a negative field draws sustenance from negative emotions.

Energy causes all beings to act in this world. The higher the level of energy, the greater would be their accomplishments. When we are tired, our energy levels plummets and we do not feel like doing anything. When the field around is negative with hurt, anger, possessiveness, greed, jealousy, fear and abhorrence, we are less able to act with speed and efficiency. These emotions suck the energy and lifeforce out of us.

New Rules for Women Managers

Woman managers need to appreciate that it takes heroic energy to rock the cradle and rock the corporate world.

 First pin a badge for bravery on yourself for attempting it.

 Then, promise you will not even begin to tread the path that leads to the joyless land of being a super-woman or super-mom.

 Enlist your men and families as willing accomplices in the challenging task of reconstructing a corporate workplace that lovingly accommodates the needs of humans, for families, for music, poetry and time for just standing and watching the world go by!

 Be kind to yourself. Love yourself.

 Conquer fear and overcome the need for instructions.

 Pursue the ability to adapt and be a leader of proactive change.

 The New World is not for those who are what Nehru called unwilling victims, dragged to be sacrificed on the altar of change.

 Be leaders to be accepted as such. Banish forever your fear of being centre stage, your reluctance to accept that you are where the buck stops.

 Relearn and re-install the software of the human heart that your mothers embodied.

 The New Woman of the past decade must not forsaken her heritage of loving and caring for the tough hard-bitten so-called ‘male boss model.’

 Both men and women managers need to put the human being at the centre of all business processes.

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How to Develop Work-Life Balance

Love yourself enough to outsource
Take short relaxation breaks, at least thrice a day.
Eat fresh, energy-giving foods.
Take a walk outdoors during lunch break.
Spend time reading and improving your mind.
Involve your spouse and children in your work. Bring them to the office during lunch break or on a Saturday.
Get involved in activities that will benefit others.
Develop an absorbing hobby or skill—driving, dancing, gardening, carpentry, painting, amateur radio…
Keep in touch with your close friends and extended family, use the power of the internet.
Plan to cut off from work on weekends.
Meditate. Take care of yourself.

Laughter Breaks

Laughter increases the levels of endorphins in our bodies, which are natural pain-killers. Norman Cousins, an American journalist who wrote “Anatomy Of An Illness” was suffering from an incurable disease of the spine. Laughter therapy helped him when no pain-killer could. Endorphins released as a result of laughter may help in reducing the intensity of pain in those suffering from arthritis, spondylitis and muscular spasms of the body. Many women have also reported a reduced frequency of migraine and tension headaches. Norman Cousins recovered from what is usually a fatal disease

He who laughs frequently is less likely to suffer from heart attacks. ‘A light answer turneth away wrath,’ says a proverb. An anger hijack can be stopped by a joke. Laughter is certainly the best medicine.

You can be happy by taking regular laughter breaks. There are a number of causes for high blood pressure and heart disease like heredity, obesity, smoking and excessive intake of saturated fats. But stress is one of the main factors. Laughter definitely helps control blood pressure by reducing the release of stress-related hormones and bringing relaxation.