Change your thoughts and change your life

Continued from January 16, 2018

5. Appreciate and enjoy what you already have: A great way to change your thoughts is to appreciate and enjoy what you already have. This is not to suggest that you should not aspire for a still better life. Enjoy whatever amount of success you have achieved, instead of feeling sad about what you have not been able to achieve. There is nothing wrong with always fixing higher benchmarks or goals, but failure to reach them should not spoil your enjoyment of what you already have.

“If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich.” ~ Lao Tzu

6. SAVOUR THE JOYS OF YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS: So many persons work hard to achieve their goals, then end up feeling embarrassed or uneasy about their achievements, because of the snide comments and critique of loved ones and “friends”. It sometimes gets to the point where, rather than basking in the joy of the achievement, you decide to hide it or look for something else. But it is one thing to achieve your goal; it is another to enjoy it after you have achieved it.

“There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second.” ~ Logan Pearsall Smith

7. STAND ERECT AND HOLD YOUR HEAD HIGH IN TRYING CIRCUMSTANCES: We often tend to feel demoralized in adverse conditions. We stop and feel low as if we are bending under their weight. This happens both literally and figuratively. You will, however, surely feel better if you try to lift your spirits and also your head like a person determined to take up the challenge. This is the best way to get out of the depression. Try it.

8. ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE PLAYFUL AND CHILDLIKE: Children are known for innocence and simplicity of mind. They soon forget their quarrels with their friends and start playing together once again. This is the reason that generally they are always happy and smiling. Translated into the language of the adults, we should learn to forgive and forget.

“The great man is he who does not lose his child’s-heart.” ~ Mencius, Book IV

9. SEEK HAPPINESS AND CONTENTMENT IN THE PRESENT: Do not associate happiness with future events. I will be happy when things happen this way. It is like postponing your happiness to an unsure future. The better alternative is to try to postpone your sorrow to some future moment as much as you can. The time to be happy is today, because yesterday has already passed and you cannot be sure that tomorrow will bring any happiness.

“How simple it is to see that we can only be happy now, and there will never be a time when it is not now.” ~ Gerald Jampolsky

10. BE A MASTER OF YOUR MOODS: Be a master, rather than a servant, of your own moods. You are the ruler of the kingdom of happiness. Do not allow other people or circumstances to make you happy or sad. Do not depend on material possessions to create happiness for you. It is for you to choose to be happy, whatever the situation.