Success and Happiness

Contentment is the realization of a beautiful soul. It is a feeling which resides within every individual, but only a few are able to explore it. It's completely different from materialistic happiness dependent on the outside world. Counting your blessings is the best way to reach there! A hungry person when smells the aroma of food, it is contentment. A mother while feeding her child sees a smile on his/her face, it is contentment. Father, when he sees his daughter in her wedding dress, is contentment. Contentment is not a thought. It's an unmatched feeling that awakens the lively buds of your soul. You cannot buy contentment; you earn it! When you see a flower, it's beauty and scent fills your heart with positivity. At times, you want to become that flower by aromatizing the life of others and spreading happiness. When one small act of yours brings a smile to someone’s face or a tear of joy in those eyes, that compassion within you is nothing but contentment. Even in your work sphere, the feeling derived from doing work that makes you happy is contentment. Sometimes you succeed, sometimes you fail. When you succeed, you feel a sense of joy, it is contentment. Even when you fail, a proud feeling must arise that you fulfilled the demand of that particular situation by giving your best. That feeling is nothing but contentment. However, you have to make sure that blissfulness derived out of contentment should never lead to complacency. It must always make you stress-free rather than making you carefree. It must push you further than to pull you back. Remember, standing water gets dirty quickly. So, never stop and keep flowing.             

Even if you are not a winner, appear like one. It is one of the most important traits of your personality to lead a healthy life. It is the reflection of your self-belief. A confident person lives far better life than a person with low self- confidence. Well, there are simple things that help in acquiring this particular trait. One is your lifestyle. Most of the times, your physical appearance reflects your self-confidence. Now, do not confuse between your looks and appearance. Your looks are not under your control, but you can always monitor the way you appear. Your presence creates your aura, which always has to be compelling to look self-confident. Always keep in mind that an early bird catches the most worms. A fit person appears more confident than others. Therefore, your appearance makes a lot of impact on the people you meet. Moreover, a smile can do wonders. A smile welcomes a smile. A happy person invites others to converse with him/her. Make eye contact and maintain your body posture while talking. You can practice it in front of the mirror. Rest assured, it helps. Moreover, you must know what to speak. Never try to impress others with false statements. At the same time, never try to impose your ideas on others. There is a thin line between confidence and arrogance.   Be confident in thinking and attitude. Talk to random person whenever you get a chance. Be generous and kind but don’t over apologize. Don’t worry, nobody is perfect, so tie your laces and take on the world.          

Morals are the basic understandings, values, and beliefs of a particular person or a group or a culture that defines how we should live our life. Sometimes, these are written or expressed in books; sometimes these are words of great people whom we believe.   Morals are universal teachings that we try to practice every day. Morals are ideal in themselves. They help us in choosing a response to a particular situation. Ideally, they teach the concept of right and wrong. Now, when a person believes in these teachings or values and acts accordingly in his day to day life, then these beliefs become a trait of that person. For instance, one should be loyal, is a belief. Loyalty becomes the character of that person. Therefore, we must summon into minds that we build our character on the ideas of our morals. Building a morale is a continuous process, which takes time. It is not a one-day phenomenon. A person's upbringing also plays a dominant role in the cultivation of values and morals. Therefore, it also becomes the responsibility of the parents to nurture their child well. Also, guide them to follow the right path.

 The world is full of negative energies and negative people around us. There are many instances which we see, hear, read and subsequently feel every day. The unnatural deaths due to deadly diseases, sudden accidents, brutal rapes, fatal crimes; moreover the betrayals, hypocrisy, jealousy and many more…you are bound to feel negative. But, this is one way of feeling it. Let us introduce ourselves to another way of looking at things. Despite all of the negativity happening around us, we also have all the reasons to feel content. We have a shelter to shed, food to eat, water to drink, money to spend. On top of that, WE HAVE TIME TO THINK AND TALK ABOUT NEGATIVE/ POSITIVE while most of the people do not have time to breathe freely. Compare yourself, but with the ones who can only dream of living your life. STOP COMPLAINING. You have all the right reasons to feel positive. Start feeling and enjoying happiness NOW. Last but not the least, follow compassion. Helping others and making others happy is a definite way to feel happy and positive.  

Before starting any journey, one has to know the destination.  Without a destination, the voyage is incomplete.  Let us assume that we have a set of skills. However, until we don’t know what to do with those skills, they are good for nothing. It’s like living life without a purpose. Goals are essential to move forward in life. Moreover, they help us in harnessing our energy in the right direction. Subsequently, they result in productivity from our efforts and energy.  Goals help us realize our true potential. We come to know about where we stand today and what needs to be done to raise our standards. A goal not only helps us in measuring our progress but also helps in maintaining our focus. A goal oriented person never gets distracted.  Moreover, when we subdivide our goals into small targets, it excitingly motivates us and keeps up our motivational level. Therefore, it is vital to set a goal and work for it.  

Not only an intriguing title; I'll also make sure that the article is worth reading... Step by step, we shall try to get into it. First of all, let us try to approach the word ‘SUCCESS.' How does one define success?  Commonly, Success can be defined as the accomplishment of goals and objectives. For some people, the definition of success could also be the triumph over the competitors. What else? Yes, for some people, success could be reaching the top in their respective work fields. Everyone perceives success in their own peculiar way. The definition of success keeps on changing with people, time and situation. Finding it boring??? Hold on, some interesting observations about to begin!!! There is no denying the fact that only a few feelings can match the magical feeling of being successful. All the positive emotions can be attached to success such as happiness, rejoice, pleasure, satisfaction, euphoria, jubilation, etc. Let us sink in deeper to unlock the other side of the story...  A few heartfelt questions: Is the journey en-route all that beautiful like the results? Does success come all that easy? Are there any shortcuts to success? Do the successful people undergo the same emotions en-route success journey like they feel after succeeding? Let us uncover the darker side of success A few successful realizations: 'Success is that lively and elusive mask of realization, which covers the various lifeless faces of failures.' Baffled? I shall explain it to you... One success story comprises of many stories of failures. Yes, there is also a dark and gloomy side of every success story. It is that phase which nobody is aware of, except for the person who has traveled that journey alone. Only a few get out strong and victorious from this phase... And those few individuals are called 'Successful People'. We all get attracted to successful individuals who are related to our respective fields, right? But how many of us have tried to figure out that why do we get attracted towards them? Let's find out... Some in-depth realizations!!! Success comes along with many luring elements with it. Some people get lured by the money, which comes along with success. Some get drawn towards the power. Some get fascinated by the glamor attached to it. Some get attracted towards the lifestyles of successful people, while some get attracted towards their achievements. There are also some individuals who get attracted towards the passion of the successful people.  Everyone has their reasons to get drawn towards success and successful people. But let me ask you... Have you ever tried to follow the path to success of our idols?  Have you sought to find out how painful their success journey has been? Have you tried to find out the sacrifices they had made to reach there? Have you sought to find out the hardships and failures they had to face before succeeding? Are you ready to endure and struggle like they did? These questions indeed induce a painful realization. It is because everyone wants to succeed, nobody wants to fail. What we want are results....

As it comes: Everyone loves appreciation and appraisal from others. Come on, accept it that you like to get praised by others. It is because you get boosted and motivated by those appreciations. Sometimes, you even get flattered by those praises. But, there are a few questions you need to ask yourself before you enjoy those praises and appreciation from others. A few heartfelt questions: Are you worthy of those applauds? Do you also sense a feeling of self-accomplishment for the work or action you are getting appreciation from others? Are the ones praising you honestly your well-wishers? If not, then why are they praising you? Is there any hidden motive behind that false appreciation? Why are you not enjoying the appreciation when others are praising you? Do you really deserve those praises?   Huh...That was some quality brainstorming because these questions really are the need of the hour. There might be many How’s and Why’s playing hide and seek with your mind. Let us try to seek the answers.  The search for answers: First and foremost, sink into your mind that your reason to feel happy should never be that others are happy with your work or action. The things for which you are getting praised should make you happy at the first place.  My dear friend, it is absolutely fine when you are getting praised for something which is also giving you a feeling of accomplishment. The praises from others must be worthy when YOU are impressed with YOURSELF. It must be the case where praises from the outer world should be a bonus. You might want it, but you may not need it. Well, you are quite aware of the fact that how important it is to be self-motivated to keep moving in this competitive world.  This feeling of contentment derived out of self-accomplishment always keeps you up and running. But sometimes, even when you don't deserve the praises, you get it from others. Who are those people and why are they praising you? There are some people who heartily want to motivate you. Those people are your well-wishers who don’t want you to feel depressed. These people are your loved ones who want to uplift you in your lows.  It is the reason why they are praising you even if you don't deserve the appreciation. But there is another set of your appreciators, who are not your well-wishers, the ones I am referring to. Dear friend, you have this ability to distinguish between these two sets of people, but you got to TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS. Let me throw some light on the ones whom I am referring. Straight out, the move for which you are getting praised is benefiting them, not you. Your move is deliberately planned by them so that you get the praises while they enjoy the results. They are praising you because you are making them happy like you always do. Wake up before its late. A real-life illustration: I play squash and there was a district-level squash tournament going on. My opponent in the first round was not a...

Like many of my other write-ups, this article also starts with a small story, so that I can fully connect with you.  A short story: Once, there was a sparrow. She realized that her chick is fully grown up. She did not want the child sparrow to be dependent on her anymore. She wanted her child to experience the life austerities and struggles. After all, her chick had experienced all the comforts.  She felt that it was the right time for her chick to experience and challenge the other side of life. One day, she gave her valuable life lessons and made her aware of the cruel realities of life. Finally, she made her realize that now the time has come where her chick should learn how to live an independent life.   So, the mother sparrow asked her chick to build a nest on its own. She advised her to be very careful while making it. The baby sparrow fled here, there, everywhere to collect the twigs. While she was collecting the twigs, she came across a field covered with mustard plants. It was a beautiful yellow field full of mustard beans.  The field was well plowed, and therefore, there were soft worms on that plowed field. Seeing that, the baby sparrow was overjoyed. No better food she could have asked for. The mother sparrow once came to see how her child was progressing. The baby sparrow narrated her mother how she is planning to prepare her nest on that plowed field. She described her everything; the mustard seeds, the flowers, and the worms. The baby sparrow thought that she has made her mother proud and was expecting a pat on the back. To her shock, there was a very stern look on her mother’s face. The mother sparrow wanted her child to be aware of the cons associated with her decision. It made the baby sparrow furious as she was very high on life and didn’t want to take any of her mother's advice. The concerned mother tried a lot to make her daughter realize, but all went in vain. The disheartened mother sparrow left.  The baby sparrow did not get affected by it at all. Without giving a second thought, she built her nest on the strongest branch of one of the trees in that particular field. It was a well-built swinging nest. Besides, it was all beautiful and colorful around.  The baby sparrow felt victorious that she did not have to move around in search of food. Within no time, she got addicted to the luxuries of life. Gradually, her wings could no longer support her weight. The baby sparrow started to feel dull, lethargic and sluggish. The weather changed, which added to her plight. Because of the weather change, the flowers began to fall, and the worms started to disappear. What more, one day a farmer came and harvested the entire field. The baby sparrow could hardly analyze what was happening around. What once looked like an ideal life turned out to be the worst of...

My dear friend, starting from head-tail, good-evil, right-wrong, everything is double-faced. Even a story or a debate has two angles. And you know what, we, the humans are no different. The fact which we all need to get acquainted with is that we have two bulls inside us fighting with each other. Let’s find out who wins? Naturally, our physical body needs food. It is the food we eat which keeps us up and running. Without a second thought, food is the fuel for the physical body. But one thing to observe is the food we eat, the diet we follow is our choice… healthy or unhealthy? And there is a difference in how we feel following either of the diets. While healthy food makes us feel fresh and energy-boosted, the unhealthy food lowers our energy and freshness level. No brainer, you know these things, but there is a reason I am saying this... My dear friend, much like our physical body, which runs on what we eat, our mental body runs on what we feed. I’ll come straight to the point, there are two bulls inside our mind. These bulls feed on two different feeds. Interestingly, only one feed is available at a point. As a result, one bull is always hungry, and the other bull is always full. And so, the fight is always on between the two to get their respective feed. Who are these bulls? Why do they fight? What is their food? Why can’t we feed them together? What is the source of their food? These might be some of your questions seeking answers.  Yes, now the time has come to meet both the bulls... Let us meet the first bull: This bull is always happy, positive, compassionate, cheerful, stress-free, high on inner-self attributes, and hence high on life. I call it the Saint’s bull, which is always hungry for positive emotions. It feeds on joy, gratitude, pride, love which it attracts from the outside world. We can say it is the healthy food which the saint’s bull craves for!!! Let us meet the second bull: This bull inside us is always sad, angry, frustrated, low in inner-self attributes, and hence is depressed all the time. I call it a Demon’s bull, which is always hungry for negative emotions. This bull feeds on hatred, stress, jealousy which it attracts from the outside world. We can conclude that it is the unhealthy food which the demon’s bull craves for!!! Now, when we have met both the bulls, let’s talk about the availability of feed for the bulls.  Situations providing food to the Saint’s bull: The arrival of a newborn Monetary gains and profits Job promotion Success in any competitive field Accomplishment of goals A celebration party These are some situations from our personal and professional sphere in which the saint’s bull gets the feed from the outside world. This is why we feel happy and joyous in these situations. Let us find out the instances which provide food to the demon’s bull: Loss of life of a loved one Monetary Losses Failure in a competition Embarrassments and Criticisms In these situations, the only feed available from...