Success and Happiness

"Whatever goes around comes around." Yes, it is the bottom-line of Karma. Karma is our action or deed; no matter how small or big. Whatever we do, has an objective behind it. Karma also deals with that objective. If we do something good to others but it has an evil intention behind it, then according to karma, it is wrong. Likewise, if we make a mistake but the objective behind it is pure and pious, then karma treats you accordingly. Let us take an example. If we steal a coin and give it to a beggar who is in need, the motive behind it is compassion. Here, the act of helping overpowers the act of stealing. Therefore, whatever we do, it should have a noble intention behind it. It is what "Karma" teaches us.    

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....

Do you pick up and eat whatever life throws at you? Does submission to destiny define your monotonous life? monotonous life: If you could sense any bit, let’s unlock the unsung reality. Nobody knows what’s coming, but what worse than settling down with customary existence; as repetitive as a seconds’ ticker. If your life ride is sans the three E’s- Exploration, Endurance, Expressiveness; you are an overplayed song on the radio. I am sure we are dying to break the boring monotony of your mere apparent existence. Let’s unlock the first step: Exploration Life enthusiasts define life as an exploration journey. Have you ever introspected your life travel? In case you don’t know: You are responsible to explore two journeys: The one is a reciprocation to the outside world The other is the response to the inside world This may sound like a boring topic of a lengthy lecture but trust me it’s all-important. Your outside world comprises people and situations. And your inner sphere revolves around you as an individual regardless of anyone and anything external.  Do you know what happens if you aren’t a curious explorer of your inner world? People’s expectation overburdens you with obligations, which bows you down to a boring monotony. I was a part of this sad story; I’m trying hard to write my individual script.   Let me ask you a simple question good enough to make you realize the significance of inner-self exploration: How do you start your day? By getting out of the bed... right? Wrong... there’s something you do prior to it. You open your beautiful eyes which simultaneously activates a certain level of consciousness of your mind.  Subsequently, a primary thought of the morning takes a small stride to initiate your inner exploration. Do you realize it? Because that’s the biggest problem: Most of us are unaware our inside travel engine is leaking fuel. How ironic: The outside world concerns most of us; the pull of the inner world is seeking experience. The reason it is untouched by many is it does not have an apparent existence. But what you don’t comprehend: If you are a puppet to the outer world due to a lack of the inner world exploration- the monotony prevails... Why? Because you didn’t explore your ability to break it!  The best solution: Liberate your inner world to take the call for your outer world. Never allow people and situations to dictate your monotonous life. To reach that level of consciousness, you need to meditate. Just because you never meditated, it doesn’t mean you cannot. Check out 8 meditation techniques for complete beginners... And when you succeed in a better exploration of your inner world, you define happiness your way.  This is when you are ready to unveil the second E. Endurance Wikipedia defines endurance as the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from, and have immunity to trauma, wounds, or fatigue. Yes... it is all about continuing to move forward bearing hardships. Do you endure? If not, it’s a sensitive indicator you live a monotonous life. Ever wondered who endures? The one who explored the inner world beautifully to find a dream;...

A lockdown for bodies, but minds still wandering... And this distance between mind and body — it’s turning the inevitable pain into self-made suffering. But that’s the downside!! Let’s talk about the upside... the positives through this period. Let’s try to experience these happy realizations: 1. Death connecting us to life People are dying everywhere. It provokes fear of death now and then at every heart, no different you and me. But amidst all these did you realize: We literally experienced our biggest fear Death sitting at home? Gracious we are alive!  Is there a bigger blessing? I don’t think so. Let’s celebrate life with a toast to breath as the biggest reason to smile. 2. Higher sensitivity towards poverty and hunger It’s not only about this lockdown when the poor are dying of hunger. Earlier, most of us could only sympathize. We could not take that one step further — to think about doing something for them. Why? Either shortage of time or our own lives in a turmoil. Now as we standstill, there are more volunteers to think about the poor. This lockdown has taken our sympathies to another level. And that’s wonderful! 3. Turning faces towards the real mirror — Self-awareness We are denied worldly experiences ongoing lockdown. But this phase made us dig deep within to feel ourselves.  The deeper we touch, the darker it feels!! But do you know the sunnier part? At least we are facing the real mirror! We are meeting ourselves everyday. We are knowing ourselves more! No matter beautiful or ugly reflects our face in the real mirror of self-awareness, we are experiencing the taste of our company. It is leading to self-acceptance — the foundation of self-love! 4. Inculcating a new interest Earlier we never got this length of me-time. With a lockdown of direct connections with the outside world, the sharpness of the mind has less to dissect. Maybe it’s time for the soul to reach a deeper dimension without self-judgments. Picking up that half-read old book from the shelf, Tuning-in the chords of the broken guitar, Scribbling emotions in our personal diary,  Pursuing the hobby left out of responsibility, Learning different meditation or yoga practices, Let it be anything that pulls our interest! Who knows, we discover an artist within who flares the life-spark rest of our lives. 5. Connection with smiling nature after decades  Neither money is having the last laugh nor the people. It’s nature smiling! We must feel happy for them.  After all this damage, it resurrected! The air turned cleaner; the tress became greener; the water got purer. Guess what? The renewed nature is blessing us with a healthy life! Do we really need anything else? I feel nothing can draw our interest more than getting richer with nature’s wealth. Let’s celebrate nature, preserve the wealth it’s bestowing! 6. Our battle is always in the inside We have been our comparing lives with people, competing against them. Conveniently we have been blaming them for all the wrong happening with us. But about this time, we are not against outside; we are exploring the truth: We have been battling against our illusions. And it is always about the inside! We are meeting our inner critic... the real audience. And it’s an original ball game altogether. No doubt the battle has got tougher but...

Expectations might push you towards your goal, but sometimes they hurt you. Yes, expectations hurt terribly. Well, the people expecting out of you might close to you.  It is because of the closeness with them; you want to fulfill their expectations. As a result, you get overburdened by those expectations. Eventually, what happens is you start believing in the notion of others rather than own self. One thing you need to realize is, if these expectations are not allowing you to breathe freely, these are not your expectations from you. The foremost thing you need to do is explore your inner self and find out your core competencies and the areas of your interest.  Undoubtedly, our loved ones want the best out of us, but sometimes they forget that every individual is unique. Try to make them realize your aspirations, your core competence, your passion and things which you love to do. You need to speak out. Make them a part of your dreams than to get carried by their expectations. If those people expecting from you love you and genuinely care for you, they will understand you. Hang on; there is an another set of individuals who expect from you. They are the people who impose expectations just to hurt you or to hold you back. They are neither your family members nor fall in the category of your friends. They are those people who have not done anything in their lives and hence cannot see others progressing. Please avoid such people and say a big “NO” to them. You owe nothing to such people. Avoid them. One more thing, your expectation should become a reason to push you to achieve your goals rather than to hurt you. It is your life. Never waste it by living it for others.          

Success and failure are brothers from different mothers. You try hard but the end result is not always in your favor. It is the time when people start judging you and even ask for justifications for your downfall or failure. Straight out, you need to appreciate the fact that your actions were inspired by none other than you. You did what you felt was right. People who can accept and understand it will agree to it. They will always back your decision. On the other hand, those who disagree; your hundreds of justifications will be in vain. Trust me, it is impossible to clarify your actions to everybody. People perceive what they want to as per their convenience and understanding. Moreover, why do you need to give justifications for your committed actions? A decision taken can have both the conditions possible. Either it will be right or it will be wrong. Be brave enough to take the responsibility of any condition. Why are you giving justifications to others and authorizing them to take a call on your decision? Also, the definition of right and wrong vary from person to person. Subsequently, neither it is possible nor it is your responsibility to make everyone happy. You don’t owe any justifications to anyone except to your time. Obliging others with your justifications is a big question on your self-belief and self-importance. Therefore, it is entirely your responsibility to take a stand for your actions. Always be loyal to your time as you cannot predict how much you have. Do things what the time demands and not what the people demand. It is the justification for your time, not people, which eases your life journey.      

The extended lockdown period... is it taking a toll on your mental health? Are you yearning to step out of lockdown to fulfill your desires? Is the pain of world outside transiting into your suffering? Do you struggle to utilize the Me time you never got before? Do you foresee uncertainties, leading to dilemmas, on the other side of pandemics? If any of these is happening with you during the Corona outbreak, your mind is turning into a theatre of psychological dramas. High time mate! You better stop engaging with your thoughts. Let’s understand what’s cooking A hell lot is happening around you, infact the whole world is suffering. Like too much to take! And amidst all these, the viral pictures of grief, remorse, sorrow, helplessness, are everywhere, in social media and news channels, making worse for the mind to sail smoothly with this life transition. The normal routine... regular thinking patterns... all disrupted! Nothing is motivating, nothing seems inspiring about the world right now. To add final nail to the coffin, this extended lockdown period! What all of it is resulting to? Overflowing thoughts... conspiring against each other, causing severe damage to your sanity. I was hit hard by lows during this quarantine. And as I always do, I consciously chose to explore the dark. I walked out in a better headspace! A few mindshifts pulled me out from the slumps of my mind. I am happy sharing these as my suggestions; hope you find them useful. 4 Mindshifts for a better headspace A mere acceptance of your pain Human race is mourning to bereavement, Eyes around reflect deep down fears, Destitution struck so hard the poor are starving to death, Economies gravely affected; savings vaporizing than never, Future looks ambiguous... the other side under dilemmas,  Like everything brought to a standstill! Difficult time this... as there is only pain to attract from the outside world. You never stood here before, and your mind is clueless about the way out. The result: A chaotic mind that produces anxiety. But my dear friend... you need to realize: Not only you, your family, your city, or your country... It’s the entire world that’s unsettled right now. So what you are going through is fine. It’s the current normal! Yes you need to accept this right now... Better said... you might wonder: How should I gracefully accept this change? Just acknowledge you are not battling alone. It's not only about you this time... we are in this together! This offers you strength to stand in solidarity, as we people are kind of sharing identical pain. It brings the acceptance you need! Trust me... Acceptance of pain is that reliever that never allows your pain turn into suffering. Consciously experience the biggest blessing — You are Alive! You are blessed to be alive, sitting at home, comfortable with your family, away from the virus, getting enough luxuries for a healthy living. You got to feel grateful for this! You are fortunate than millions suffering in this pandemic. Please don't let that feeling of gratitude die in your sub-consciousness. If I ask you:  Did you experience the fear of being asymptomatic to Covid-19 at any point? I think many of us would admit: Yes... I felt that... just for a little... but I did! If...

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...

What is Spirituality ? Spirituality is a concept of being connected with the soul, in other terms it can be called as something bigger than ourselves. The aim of spirituality always involves the search for life. Spiritual experiences can be categorized as sacred or religious but it has a bigger meaning than all of these. It is a deep sense of aliveness and interconnectedness.  “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” Whether a person is religious or not, they might have faced moments in their life when they wanted to connect their brains to some spiritual experiences, the moments when they wanted to feel sensibility and give meaning to their life. The serenity that they feel with the spiritual connection to the brain is beyond the imagination.  What is Spiritual Experiences ? Spiritual states of mind are something which strongly connects you to a stronger or bigger force which can be felt in the form of energy, God, deity, higher power or abstract figure, and consciousness. The connection is in terms of meaningfulness, connectivity towards world, and serenity. Spiritual experiences are powerful as they have a have intense impacts on people’s lives. Scientists have identified a part of the brain called the parietal cortex whose one region is believed to be involved in experiences that go beyond our normal state of mind called spiritual power.  It is clearly known that spirituality is an internal part of healing, it is a source of strength for the one suffering from distress. Spirituality enriches various aspects of our lives including physical, emotional, mental, and relational. Spirituality encloses various aspects of human life and is also a means of undergoing several forms of life. While faith is connected to religious expressions and might not be necessarily a component of spirituality. Spirituality is expressed in the form of beliefs, attitudes, and practices that influence the lives of people. How can Spirituality be Attained? Spirituality can be attained through many spiritual traditions that have been in the history from a long time such as Meditation, prayer, yoga, and journaling using contemplative practices to increase empathy, attention, and compassion, as well as peace of mind.  Meditation- Meditation induces feelings of clear-headedness and calmness. It also improves attention and concentration. A study has proved that meditation increases the grey matter density of the brain, which helps in reducing sensitivity towards pain, help you regulate difficult emotions, enhances the immune system, and relieves stress. Prayers- It triggers the sense of relaxation, along with feelings of gratitude, compassion, and hope which have a positive impact on the overall wellbeing of the human being. There are a variety of prayers which believe that there is some higher power which has a great influence on the life of humans. Yoga- It is an ancient spiritual practice that focuses to create a sense of unity among humans through physical postures, breath expansion, and ethical behaviours. The regular practice of yoga believes to reduce swelling and stress, decrease the intensity of anxiety and depression, increase feelings of wellbeing in the mind of...