3 unusual ways to make yourself happier

These do not require you to shell out your credit card, go on a savannah, or even quit your job. You could be happy even without these.

Hey People!

This is 109th edition of Raw and Real, where we talk about:

1 Thing I wanted to share with you
2 One Liners on Life :)
3 great things I learnt, that you might find useful too.

(PS: Before we start, can you please drag your email from Promotions tab to “Inbox” - so that Google sees it is not promo, and helps us reach more people :)) Thank you <3

Let’s go:

1 Raw and Real Thing I wanted to share with you

We are always looking for happiness, directly or indirectly.

What we often end up chasing, though, is pleasure.

We think that Maldives trip would make us happy, but it gives us pleasure, which is not the key to happiness.

We think people with more followers are happier, but you peek inside and realise followers and happiness have zero correlation.

We think if that one person apologised and changed themselves, we would live in heaven starting yesterday.

However, sometimes we live in a delululand that is created only by us.

I don’t want you to be living in one of those.

So, here are three tiny hacks that you can start doing starting today, to be a happier person.

I may not (falsely) promise you a tangible result of dollars and followers, however, what I can promise you is you feeling a bit more at peace, as this is what these things have been doing to me lately:

1. Do not schedule any meeting/to-do list after a meal, at least once a day:
   It would make you eat slowly, while being fully present. Once you are done with a meal, keep sitting and stare into the void. That is it.
   
   We used to do this “random staring into the void” a lot as kids, as adults we have tasks of meetings and masks of busyness, that we have forgotten how to just be. I usually do that after lunch, but you pick whichever meal works the best for you.
   
   And then, after that meal, do nothing for 10 minutes, no phone, nowhere to go: just chilling. You can take your plate after 10 minutes. This purposelessness will fill you with more presence. Try it out starting today.
   

2. Whomsoever you should let go but aren’t able to, please know that you will be okay without them.
   We cling to people we should have moved on from 45,235 years ago, because we keep visualising a better version of themselves that doesn’t exist in the first place.
   
   In the process, we keep losing our goodness, and are only left with cluelessness.
   
   Thus, my friend, as much as you loved them or cared for them and they were not able to see it, if you were looking for a sign whether to let go of them, here it is. Your love for someone else need not come at the cost of giving up on self respect. You do not need to prove the presence of your love to someone who was not for once there to be present to it.
   
   When I speak about this, I am not essentially speaking about romantic relationships. Even in other relationships, a lot of us keep banging our heads with the hope of making our parents or siblings or even our friends understand our way of life. I have figured we can pretend to be normal in front of the very same things that ripped us apart, and let go of them in our own hearts. While casually still being in touch without any malice.
   
   Boundaries are for you too, before they are for anyone else :)
   

3. Every evening, please go for a 5-minute outdoor walk.
   That’s it.
   I do not urge you to go for an evening walk lasting an hour. If you do it, you are phenomenal. But if you do not do it, you can always take out 5 minutes.

   Some of the ways to do it:
   • A park near your home/place of work
   • Terrace of your home (if you live at a place that has one)
   • If you live in a home that has no terrace, that means it certainly is in a society, and you may go there for an evening walk.
   • More than anything else, if you are surrounded by none of these, if you truly care about yourself (I know you do, otherwise you won’t be reading so far) you would figure out a way.
   
   My friend, the wisest people on the planet have solved their problems by going on a walk. But you don’t need to trust me for that, you may pick that up for yourself.

   

Alright then, that is it for the raw and real conversation of this week my friend.

To summarise, unusual things to make yourself happier:

1. After at least one meal, stare into the void. It makes your food eating process slower, that makes you more present.

2. You will be okay without them. Perhaps (way) better.

3. At the cost of repeating myself, go for a walk. Yes now.

2 Raw One-Liners:

• In your 20s you workout to look good. In your 30s you workout to be more energetic.

• Empathy never gets obsolete.

3 beautiful things I learnt in the headquarters of Brahma Kumaris in Abu:

PS: I am in a meditation retreat as of now, and while I will share the life lessons in a future post, as of now, I am sharing 3 beautiful lines of wisdom I learnt here, that you might find beautiful too:

1. Just like a vehicle needs a powerful brake in order to be really effective, you really need to learn to pause your thoughts in a second with the same power. That is when you become master of yourself.

2. You are not a body. You are a soul having a body. So is everyone else a soul, having a body. This means, we are all not defined by the body, but the true nature of soul: which is peace, love, purity, happiness, bliss, wisdom, power.

3. When we practice one (or more) of these qualities of the soul, it is almost impossible to not see them in everyone else.

On that note, I’ll take off from here for this week. I hope it wasn’t too heavy for you…

I’ll see you next week.

Stay raw, stay real, and never stop reading.

Nishtha Gehija

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Instant access ebooks for your reading, and spend some time with yourself:

The Corporate Life Handbook: The book everyone working a corporate job needs :)
The Career Changing Guide: My bestseller so far :)
How to Deal with Heartbreak: Because, life happens :(
Every Writer Needs to Read this: I wish I had this one, when I was starting out as a writer

This is What You are Looking for (Paperback): Small Life Lessons for a Happier Life