Embrace introspection as way to deepen your inner-peace and happiness

I am all about training our mind to become an ally in our life because a trained, calm mind is a powerful thing. This may be the single most important skill that I have been introduced to in my life. And this skill is best refined through a meditation practice. But there's also something else for us.

You see, I consider myself a beginner in my meditation practice. So, while I am making progress in the meditative practice which strengthens my mind, calms it and builds equanimity (calm-balanced mind in the face of good and bad), I realize that I can also do other thought-cleansing activities. 

And that's introspection. Merriam-Webster's definition goes like this:

introspection

noun  in·tro·spec·tion \ˌin-trə-ˈspek-shən\

:  a reflective looking inward
:  an examination of one's own thoughts and feelings

I do not see this word very often in our everyday conversations. I love this word and the idea that it stands for, and hopefully, we can become more of an introspective society that reflects inward and examines itself more closely with compassion and self-love. To me, introspection means becoming aware of my inner-world, especially as it reacts and responds to the outside world. With introspection, we can find solutions to our every day life challenges, because the answers are already within us.

Each one of us has to make our own decisions based on the inner-strength and understanding we have developed. No matter how much an answer is provided ready-made and pre-designed by others, it will only have a real impact in our lives if we live it, embrace it and make it our own. The process of introspection helps us with that.

Introspection - a stepping stone to a deeper meditative experience

Introspection may help us in our everyday life, with solutions for relationships and work and our community. But that's only the beginning. That's still working on the external level - meaning the physical world that we live in that includes people, places, situations, relationships, objects, environment, events and processes of change in nature, and so on. We are just playing in the world of external physical things.

Beyond the external, physical world, there's an entire universe within our inner-world that remains for us to explore. It is full of high potentiality for us as human beings evolving at this time in our history. Within this inner-world lies not only the answers to our current "problems" but also immense transcendental treasures that I cannot even begin to speak about because I have not fully explored them myself.  However, I've read that many mystics, saints, shamans and noble beings have. And they have left for us clues along the path.

How to take the first steps to sipping the transcendental experience?

But the question remains, how can we even begin to get there (non-physical, transcendental inner-world of treasures), if we do not take even the first steps? The first steps include introspection activities and meditation. And taking first steps means consciously investing and blocking of time for such activities daily. If we cannot invest time to do this in our worldly activities, then the fruits within our inner-reservoir will remain illusive. We can only dream about experiencing that which we do not know exists for us within us to explore. We must begin to take the first steps.

And this has to be daily; not weekly, monthly or once in a while. Daily! Just like we shower and eat our meals daily! It has to become a daily practice because the effect of continuity is more powerful than sporadic engagement in something. Whenever we do something consistently, day-in and day-out, we begin to see real progress, real results. You know this yourself from any project you have been involved in. When left alone for a while, the project takes much more effort to get back into in and then move forward, than if you were to consistently work on it, isn't it? That's been my experience and I can personally feel into this idea and see how the consistency transfers over to meditation and introspective efforts.

So how would a daily introspective and meditative practice look like?

Before I go into an example, I must say that having huge goals for me have been very powerful. My school teacher back in Mumbai used to quote, "Reach for the stars. Even if you don't reach it, at least you won't be in the mud either." And I think to have an ideal to work towards is a good thing (especially, if we don't let ourselves be overwhelmed by it).

It is simple:

“Introspection:
15 minutes over lunch

Mediation:
60 minutes in the morning.
60 minutes in the evening.”

The formula:

Introspection: 15 minutes over lunch
Meditation: 60 minutes in the morning. 60 minutes in the evening.

(Just to be clear by meditation I am referring to silent meditation. No music. No words. Just observing your breath as it is without changing it or altering how you breath. Just observing with non-judgment.)

Because I am suggesting this formula doesn't mean that I am a master of it. Here's a little backstory (below) of my new meditative life that started in January of this year (2016). And you'll see that what I am sharing here (Daily Introspection + Meditation) is a big goal for me.

My meditation backstory for the purpose of inspiring you

I began working to establish a daily habit right after I returned from a 10-day mediation retreat in January of 2016 (by the way, if you want to begin a new meditation practice for the new year, go to a retreat in December. You will be helped by the new year energy of new beginnings to move you forward). Since January of 2016, I have been working to cultivate this habit. I ran into several roadblocks and speed bumps and even potholes along the way. I then went to my second 10 day retreat in May of 2016 and found that that experience turbocharged my efforts to meditate daily. By September 3rd 2016, I have more or less cultivated a one-hour-a-day practice (60 minutes in the evening). I meditated for 105 consecutive days and then ran into more challenges to keep up the practice. 

There are still lots of loose rocks on my path right now that I need to overcome. So, I am getting better at keeping the habit daily but not yet perfectly consistent with it. My vision and aim is that by December 31st, 2016, I'll be established in the two-times-a-day-hourly-meditation habit.

Why do we need introspection, then, if we have meditation?

So why do I speak of introspection after having put so much emphasis on meditation in this article so far?

The reason for this is: I've not yet achieved that big goal of meditating twice a day for two hours, which I know is so important for making huge inroads in compassion, self-love, equanimity, focus, perseverance and overall peace and happiness. And many of us are not there yet. So to help me move forward on this path, I rely on introspection. It is an "easier" thing to do which also serves as a stepping stone for greater and deeper inner-work (such as meditation).

With introspection activities, you are able to look closely at your thoughts and emotions, yourself. You are not discussing them with others. Perhaps, you have a journal to help you or a book that has introspective questions. Or you've downloaded one of my free PDFs (see Happiness Forecast blog posts) that has introspective exercises. But it is all you. You are alone with yourself. You get to know yourself. And you learn a ton!

Introspection exercises are important because they help pull out the essence within you. You gain clarity about your life and renewed energy for living, for serving, for following your drams. It is very powerful.

What is an example of introspective exercise?

There are some questions that I ask myself every few months and definitely at the end of each year during an annual introspection period (I'll talk more in detail about this in another blog, remind me if I forget).

An introspective exercise is a process of asking an open-ended question to yourself. Then you either write down what comes as an answer. Or you let that question simmer within you for a few hours or a few days.  

Below are some examples. Notice that they may look similar but it is included here because how a question is phrased will draw you to it in a certain way. So in this way you'll pick a particular version of a question that stirs you deeply.

What is important to me right now?

What makes me really happy?

What is the most essential in my life? If I could have only the most essential things what would they be?  

What are the three key things in my life?
("Things" refers to more than just objects, but you could feel that!)
 

Those are some good questions. Here are a few others that you can let simmer within you:

What do I want to do before I die?

What if I knew I would die in six months, what would I do first?

What would you do today if you knew you will die tomorrow?

And some more:

What does your soul look like? (I got this one from Oprah)

If there is one problem in the world you could solve right now (Aladdin's Genie grants you this wish), then what big global issue would you solve?

If you had no self-doubt and you were fully confident in yourself and your ability to succeed, what project or business idea would you invest yourself in?

And these two are classic questions in the personal development field:

If you knew you could not fail, what would you do?

If you had all the money, time and resources in the world, what would you do with your life?

An introspective exercise is a process of asking an open-ended question to yourself. Then you either write down what comes as an answer. Or you let that question simmer within you for a few hours or a few days.

The idea is to take one question and start contemplating it. You may journal answers to it without censoring yourself. I like to pick a question and take it with me on my walks to the forest. You can also ask yourself a single question daily and each time more and more clarity can emerge.

I think this would be a good time to pick a question that pops-up for you and go play with it. So take a look at the list above and pick one. There is, of course, no one correct answer or wrong answer- it's just an introspective process to get deeper in touch with ourselves and perhaps, to shed away some things that we no longer need or want.

Let me know how it turns out for you in the comments. I'd L.O.V.E to know! :-)

Love,
Sophia

PS: Have you checked our my free ecourse: 5 Days to a Happier Life? It has daily action-steps that you can easily implement to cultivate deeper happiness in your life. Click here to sign up to this free email course.

 Photo credit and big heartfelt thanks for the beautiful images used in this post goes to Teddy Kelley and Ben Duchac, respectively.Thank you both for your beautiful creations! 

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About Sophia Ojha

Hey there! I am so happy you found us or are revisiting us here on the blog. 
Welcome! So that's me in the photo and I blog and make videos on the topic of happiness and inner-peace. Click here to learn more about me. Enjoy your stay here at reflectionpond.com!

Love, Sophia

My Top 5 Uplifting Books

Hello there!

I first learnt about this idea from Jack Canfield. He suggested that for setting the right tone to our day and in fact to our life, we must begin with a power hour in the morning. Essentially, a power hour includes:

20 minutes of exercise, 
20 minutes of meditation and
20 minutes of reading (uplifting materials).

In one of my Happiness Forecast episodes I recommended adding an hour of power to your day as part of the daily practices that cultivate happiness. There are more suggestions in that post including ten of my happiness boosting activities. 

Back to the hour of power and the reading part of it! So what exactly should we read in the morning? I would say read any piece of positive material that you gravitate towards. Ideally, they must be books so you can read it before turning on any of your devices. So here are my favorite uplifting materials:

1. The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra 

2. Turning the mind into an ally by Sakyong Mipham

3. The New Earth by Eckhart Tolle (or any of his books)

4. The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo

5. Ask and it is given by Abraham Hicks

There are tons of wonderful writers that I could list here but these are among the 5 books that I have read repeatedly and so they make the cut to be among my top 5. But I will add a bonus # 6 below just for fun because I have read this book several times as well and each time it has filled me up with positive thinking and the light of new possibilities.

6. Write it down and make it happen by Henriette Anne Klauser.

I love to start my day with some uplifting reads. I hope you find this quick list of my top 5 helpful to start off your day on the right tone because the first hour of your day can set the mood for the rest of the day; it's that powerful! 

Enjoy your reads and do share in the comments below your favorite reads!

With love,

Sophia

Do You Know Your Personal Velocity?

Do you know what your personal velocity is?

Your personal velocity — your pace of how you do things, how you live your life that feels just right for you.

It seems that in our fast-paced, hyperactive world, there is this unspoken pressure to do things with great speed. What if we are doing things so fast that our entire life passes us by like a fast-forward motion in a movie and we are unable to take a deep breath and experience it all fully?

This is something that may or may not be happening to you but I urge you to reflect upon your individual pace of life — your own pace of doing things. Not only do we need to know our personal pace but we also need to embrace ourselves and accept whatever that pace happens to be.

This is important if we want to live our lives in alignment with our inner-pace and feel the inner-peace that comes out of being in harmony with it.

Watch this video below that I shot with a message on personal velocity in the beautiful Black Forest area of Southern Germany.

So if you find yourself rushing because of an external pressure to speed up. Just recognize this. Become aware, take a deep breath or two and just focus on your inner-self for a moment.

As we turn the page and welcome a brand new year, I thank you deeply for staying with Reflection Pond and reading my messages and watching my videos. I am eager to see you again in 2016 and serve you with further reflections and personal tools for cultivating happiness and inner-peace. May you have a blessed holiday time and a very happy, prosperous and peaceful new year!

With lots of love,

Sophia
Helping You Live A Happier Life

Success Strategy: Just Show Up

What if despite all that you bring to the table, your original plan does not pan out?

Recently, I had such an experience where I had to reframe what success meant to me. As someone who has ever embarked on completing a project, you may resonate with my story. I put together a short video in which I share a recent "failure" that actually became a success as soon as I reframed it and then, amazingly, this actually led to the desired result I was originally going for. And all it took was: Showing up for the day.

Watch the video below to hear the full story:

I share a lot on this blog about detachment from end-results, letting go of negative emotions and sowing better seeds to reap the virtuous life we want to create. And even though from studying these principles from success literature, Buddhist philosophy and Western mysticism, I am gaining a deeper understanding, actually put these practices is far from easy.

Obstacles On the Path

So this is what happened:

For this month's video installment, I set about my plans to create a video presentation on Deepak Chopra's Law of Karma (part of a book review and interpretation series you can find here). As I began filming in my backyard, I first realized that my camera battery was dying. This was puzzling because I had done the pre-shoot prep the night before and charged all batteries. "Very well", I said and brought out my other battery that was indeed fully charged and ready to go.

Next, as I started to record the video, I saw that my sound recorder (the beautiful H4N) was full in capacity - even though, I had formatted the disk the night before! It turned out that I had not done it correctly (inspite of having used this thing for several years, I still stumbled upon the novice error of deleting the content on the harddrive and not the real thing!) Well, I took a deep breath, formatted the disk and continued.

Then, as I began presenting the content, my lovely young friends (neighbors' kids ranging from 4 to 12 years in age) came hopping along excitedly to see what fun I was up to. Seeing the camera, tripod and my set-up generally excites them as they are all budding artists. And so, I found myself getting distracted, or shall I say rather drawn by their curiosity and fascination with the film process!

Soon, they were gone and I was ready to do the shoot. But now, I fumbled on my words and struggled to find the flow and inspiration. I referred to my notes but nothing! I took some deep breaths after which I began to find my eloquence.

It was not going to be that easy, was it? Because just as I started to speak with ease and rhythm, it started to rain. I quickly brought my equipment into dryland and began moping about! I felt like my day was a total wasted, filled with distractions, technical inconveniences, lack of inspiration and a creative struggle for completion.

The Wise Man Speaks

Thankfully, my wise husband was in the house when all of this was happening. He asked me, "What's going on?" I shared with him the day's experience. He simply smiled and said, "You showed up. That is what matters."

You know how some women are dissatisfied when their partners are "men of few words"? Well, in my case, I am just so blessed. In just a few words, my husband had shed crystal clear light on the message of the day.

You see, on my path of self-discovery and happiness, I have stumbled many times. And often it was because I didn't have the courage to show up. Excuses would mar my progress towards my beloved goals and dreams. Resistance would have an upper hand and self-pity would blurr my vision.

But today, I had showed up to my day, to my life, to my goals and dreams. I had done the preparation. I had set the intention. And I had gotten out of bed one more time to fulfill my dreams. Yes, the video did not get done in the way I had planned. But I did all I could to make it happen. I did what I said I would, put all my effort into the creative process and I showed up. This alone had to be enough. No, I didn't change the world. But once I realized that my success was in showing up, I had accepted what is. I had accepted the present moment. Most importantly, I was happy about it.

This attitude helped me to focus all my attention on what I can do versus what the outcome should be. It helped me to be detached about the outcomes while being more present with the present moment.

This is where detachment flowers into peace of mind. This is where "mistakes" become gifts to share.

I, then, made the above video to share all that transpired during the day and what I had learnt from my experience. That felt good. I had reframed the situation to align with a higher mode of thinking. And I was freed from judgments of success. I was freed from expectations and from results. I was free. And that sense of freedom brought me happiness.

The Goal Achieved Afterall

It so happens that sharing my experience put me in a heightened state of well-being and right after I made the above video, I recorded the video about Deepak's Law of Karma! In the end, I did complete what I set out to do. But it only happened after I had let go of expectations, judgments and attachments!

What an amazing difference it makes to change the way we look at the events of our lives!

I would love to know:

How have you dealt with situations when things do not go as planned and what precious lessons did you bring into your awareness? Share your insights in the comments below because it could be exactly what someone needs and wants to hear. You can make a difference by sharing from your life.

By the way, I send my gratitude to Alberto Restifo for the outstanding landscape image that I used in the thumbnail of this video.

Wishing you oceans of deep mental and emotional peace and prosperity,

Sophia
Helping You Live A Happier Life

PS: In recording this video, I found the inspiration to complete my project - which goes to show that sharing what you learned from your "mistakes" can be the recipe for your healing/success you are seeking.

I am really grateful that you took the time to read this message. Thank you for being part of our Happiness Lovers Family. And if you are not yet a Happiness Lover, join our family now by going here.

How to Break Karmic Patterns: The Law of Karma

How to Break Karmic Patterns: The Law of Karma

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We continue in our series of blogs that look in-depth at the philosophy and practical advice laid out in Deepak Chopra's book, Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.

Get your copy on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3FN7Vil (Partnerlink: when you buy the book through this link we receive a commission with no surcharge for you.)

This blog edition is about the Third Law, The Law of Karma.

The word Karma has sometimes been understood in a way that scares a lot of people. Does Karma mean I will be punished for my "wrong" actions? I myself have thought: Do I have to think of all the consequences of my actions all the time so I don't experience the "wrath of Karma"?

Growing up in India, I heard the word Karma all the time. It was often referred to in casual talk and was as normal as talking about the weather. But in my experience it was not something we would go deep into, hence, the fear and misunderstandings around the whole concept. In the rest of the world, this misunderstanding and fear found a new dimension to it, even though the word itself has found itself a cozy spot in our English language lexicon. With the help of Deepak Chopra, I am going to share some ideas that will make the concept of Karma, a practical resource, something you and I can use in our lives to make our lives richer, happier and peaceful in every sense possible.

So let's dive in.

What is Karma?

Karma comes from the Sanskrit language which literally translates to "action". The Law of Karma as Deepak states in his book, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, is:

“Every action generates a force of energy that returns to us in like kind...what we sow is what we reap. And when we choose actions that bring happiness and success to others, the fruit of our karma is happiness and success.”

— The Third Law of Karma, Deepak Chopra

So that's it in a nutshell. Whatever action we take (cause), we will experience a result (effect) that corresponds to that action. So in that sense, karma is neutral to the person. There is no such thing as "the wrath of karma". It just is. Like rain. Like sunlight. It is a structural element of life and even though it comes from spiritual traditions, like sunshine, the phenomenon itself doesn't belong to a single school of thought.

So the question to ask ourselves is: What do I want to create in my life? If I want to create a peaceful life with harmony in my relationships, I must sow peaceful seeds. If I want to create a life of happiness, I must sow seeds of happiness.

Understanding how our choices influence karma

Deepak Chopra shares with us that the best way to understand and maximize the use of karmic law is to become aware, consciously aware of each and every choice we make. Our life is literally a series of choices; some conscious, some unconscious. The more awareness we can bring to our choices, the more conscious we become of how we decide and take action, the more we can influence the karmic law to create what we want in our lives. Then, we can make conscious choices that lead to the result we are looking for.

Choices are key because everything that is happening in your life right now is a result of a previous choice you made. The past choices take shape in your life as present circumstances and result in how you experience your body, your physical environment, how you perceive your relationships with others and how the world appears to you. Sometimes we are surprised at how the present looks and we feel we did not consciously choose this result.

We feel that way because those choices that caused the unpleasant present were unconscious choices, decisions we made under the influence of ego (automatic trigger-reactions to people and situations), pride, unawareness of your higher self, disconnection from nature and the cycle of life; being under the influence of toxic foods such as fried, overcooked, extremely sweet, excessive food, and non-sacred/ non-ethical consumption of meat, alcohol and other intoxicants. (My definition of non-sacred/non-ethical consumption of meat is eating other living beings without asking their permission, without asking for their forgiveness, eating abused and mistreated animals, wasting meat and a few other specific criteria. Being a Vegan practitioner myself, I think of how the native people around the world used to consume meat with sacred ritual, love and respect for the animal species as exemplary of ethical consumption of meat.) Many unconscious choices we make are without a thorough understanding of what we are doing and these unconscious choices result in alienation with family and friends, physical illness and emotional pain and sadness and a life that is without peace, harmony and joy.

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Karma as a useful tool to break the cycle

This is where the law of karma becomes a tool, a useful resource to positively affect our life situation no matter how young or old we are, no matter how unconsciously we have led our life so far. Because karma is not restricted by time or space, you can influence your life path even on the last day of your life. This is the unlimited power of karma which we can use to completely transform our life and to transcend any karmic past stemming from unconscious actions. This is very encouraging - the sweet spot of the law of karma!

It all begins by becoming more conscious of our choices. So how do we go about doing that? This is what Deepak Chopra has to say:

“If you step back for a moment and witness the choices you are making as you make those choices, then in just this act of witnessing, you take the whole process from the unconscious realm into the conscious realm. This procedure of conscious choice-making and witnessing is very empowering.”

— The Law of Karma, Deepak Chopra

Spontaneous Right Action that brings peace

Just by witnessing ourselves as we make a choice, we are changing the game. That's the first step. Then we need to ask ourselves two questions:

1. What are the consequences of this choice? and
2. Will this choice that I'm making now bring happiness to me and to those around me?

There is only one choice out of an infinite number of choices that will lead to happiness both for you and for the people in your life. And when this choice is made, it comes from what Deepak calls, Spontaneous Right Action, which is essentially the right action at the right time. I often have an experience of knowing the right action at the right time and my term for it is, Inspired Action. Basically, as Deepak says, "it's the action that nourishes you and everyone else who is influenced by that action."

Body Clues to Spontaneous Right Action

But how do we know what is the right action to take? Well, there is a mechanism that the Universe uses to help us make these spontaneous right actions. It is the sensation of comfort or discomfort in our body. So when you are consciously making a choice, pay close attention to what your body is feeling.

“Only the heart knows the correct answer.”

— The Law of Karma, Deepak Chopra

Find in your body a sensation that feels good or doesn't feel good. This sensation can be felt in the solar plexus (just above your belly button and under the rib cage) or you may feel it in your heart or center of your chest. Then consciously bring your attention to your heart and ask your heart what to do. Then, simply wait and listen to the response which you will get in the form of a sensation in the body.

“The heart is intuitive; it’s holistic; it’s contextual, it’s relational. It taps into the cosmic computer - the field of pure potentiality, pure knowledge, and infinite organizing power - and takes everything into account. At times it may not even seem rational, but the heart has a computing ability that is far more accurate and far more precise than anything within the limits of rational thought.”

— The Law of Karma, Deepak Chopra

The Simple Formula for using The Law of Karma

We can use the law of karma to manifest anything our heart desires: material abundance in the form of money and things, spiritual abundance in the form of inner-peace, harmony in our relationships and in our world and true inner-happiness.

The formula for using the law of karma is simple. First, you must become more and more conscious of your actions. You need to become aware that your future is a result of the choices you are making in every moment of your life. Just with this awareness, you will be shifting some energetic patterns in your life.

Second, as you become more and more aware of your choices, you will make more and more spontaneously right actions which will bring peace and happiness to you and to those around you. The more you do this, the more you will reap the benefits of the Karmic Law.

How to Resolve the Debt of Past Karma?

So, now you are focused on creating a better future by paying close attention to your present. But what about the results that are yet to come because of the past karmic actions which were potentially unconscious? Do not be afraid of past karma. Because Deepak shows us how we can diffuse the effects of old unconscious, negative actions.

When we do nothing about our past karma, it results in the form of karmic debt that needs to be repaid. When we are unconscious or unaware of how karma works, karmic law still works and we pay back for our actions sometimes in the form of great suffering. It essentially is a form of an energetic exchange.

But, there are two powerful things we can do about past karma.

Breaking the cycle by seeing the seed of opportunity

First, you can transmute or transform your karma to a more desirable experience. In other words, let us say you are experiencing something negative or unpleasant in your life. Somehow, either consciously or unconsciously, you caused this experience into your life. The past actions are done and now you are in karmic debt repayment phase. It is causing you mental anguish, emotional pain, physical illness or some other form of discomfort or suffering. This is how you are paying back the debt of your past actions. But this does not mean you are breaking out of it. You may do the same actions again unconsciously because you do not know which actions are causing these unwanted results; and not realize that you are sowing seeds for future suffering. So you need to break this karmic pattern.

To do that, while you are going through a difficult time in your life, Deepak suggests you ask yourself:

1. What can I learn from this experience?
2. Why is this happening and what is the message that the universe is giving to me?
3. How can I make this experience useful to my fellow human beings?

By doing this, essentially, you are looking for the opportunity in that situation. And then you tie this opportunity with your Life Purpose or dharma. (More on the Law of Dharma in this post). So what was a painful episode in your life now becomes the source of something positive that helps you and other people because of your very experience of that painful episode. You need to find a way that your life experience can in some way inspire or help other people

This doesn't get rid of your karma, but you do create a new positive karma out of it.

An example he gives is of somebody breaking their leg while playing sports. They can then ask the three questions above to learn from it. The message they might need is to, perhaps, slow down and be more mindful. Or they need to write about their experiences and help others play sports safely. This way, they take what happened to them and transform it to help somebody else and create a benefit for humanity.

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Transcending Old Karmic Patterns

The second way to deal with karma is to transcend it using practices of meditation. By doing this, by transcending karma, we become independent of karma and break its hold on us. By quieting our mind and experiencing the silence between thoughts, we can clear out old karmic patterns.

“The way to transcend karma is to keep experiencing the gap, the Self and the Spirit. ”

— The Law of Karma, Deepak Chopra

I would like to add to this discussion another way of cleaning the influence of old karma that comes from Buddhist philosophy. Geshe Michael Roach, in his book The Karma of Love (find it easily on Amazon with our partnerlink https://amzn.to/4kPneGb), writes about cleaning the effect of old karma. He describes it in these steps:

1. We need to understand the concept of seeds. That everything is a result of seeds or actions we have taken.

2. We need to make the intention and the decision to stop the action that caused this karma. One way of doing this is to decide to not do the action that causes this situation for the next 24 hours. It is important to not break this decision because breaking promises to ourselves sows more bad seeds and creates negative Karma.

3. We need to take some positive action, sow positive seed as payment for the karma.

To learn more details, check out his book, The Karma of Love, which is written like a novel and is really fun to read, very practical and you can really use the information and apply it right away in your life.

So, in conclusion, all actions are karmic episodes, meaning every action generate karma. By becoming conscious of your actions, you consciously influence your reality.

“By becoming a conscious choice-maker, you begin to generate actions that are evolutionary for you and for those that are around you. And that’s all you need to do. As long as the karma is evolutionary - for both the Self and everyone affected by the Self - then the fruit of karma will be happiness and success.”

— The Law of Karma, Deepak Chopra

The Three Commitments

As in each chapter, Deepak Chopra offers us three commitments we can choose to make in order to put the law into effect. Here are the three commitments for The Law of Karma:

1. Today, I will witness the choices I make in each moment. And in the mere witnessing of these choices, I will bring them to my conscious awareness. I will know that the best way to prepare for any moment in the future is to be fully conscious in the present.

2. Whenever I make a choice, I will ask myself two questions: "What are the consequences of this choice that I'm making?" and "Will this choice bring fulfillment and happiness to me and also to those who are affect by this choice?"

3. I will then ask my heart for guidance and be guided by its message of comfort of discomfort. If the choice feels comfortable, I will plunge ahead with abandon. If the choice feels uncomfortable, I will pause and see the consequences of my action with my inner vision. This guidance will enable me to make spontaneously correct choices for myself and for all those around me.

Onwards

I hope that this presentation of the Law of Karma according to Deepak Chopra's book, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, was useful to you. What I take most from this law is the simplicity of it. We can make it complicated if we want to but the simple message for me is that the more conscious I become of my actions, the better I can act, and the more conscious actions I take, the more flourishing and abundant my life situation will be. So all I need to do is to become conscious and aware in the moment. It is not that scary after all. And no, I do not need to fear the "wrath of Karma", as there is no such thing. There is karmic debt which can be painful but it needn't become a suffering. Pain and suffering are two very different things and suffering is entirely up to us. Even a karmic debt can be a source of something positive and useful for our fellow humans and animals and our planet. We can break free from old unconscious actions by helping others and by meditating. The Law of Karma really is a very practical tool in our every day life for creating peace, abundance and harmony.

Get your copy on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3FN7Vil (Partnerlink: when you buy the book through this link we receive a commission with no surcharge for you.)

Do share in the comments: how has Deepak's presentation of the Law of Karma now changed how you view karma?

Wishing you lots of love, peace and Karmic freedom,

Sophia
 

PS: I do not have a video version for you as I am working on a project that is taking my complete focus - a project which you will hear and learn about soon if you are on our Happiness Lovers Family Email List. (Exciting!) If you would like to join the HL Family and receive free emails along with the exciting new announcement, click here. I am happy to have you join us!!
 

What I learnt about life and death from our darling cat friend

Recently, I lost a friend who is very dear to me and I miss him very much.
And many days in the month of June, I have cried a lot because he is no longer with us. But in all the pain of losing a friend, I have received a tremendous gift...a priceless gift that has instilled in me a deep understanding of life and death that will stay with me all my life.

This friend is Mr. Minou, a gorgeous feline who became my fur-baby in April 2014. He was a month shy of his 17th birthday which as you animal-lovers know, is a long life for cats in general. He was fortunate to be loved and adored by a wonderful family in New York City for his first 16 years. We were fortunate to have him in our home for his final retirement year after his original family faced insurmountable challenges and had to look for a loving family to take care of.

He was here to heal us humans and he did that beautifully. With him in our home, we had zero arguments or disagreements between Cristof and myself. Now we remind ourselves by saying, "what would Minou do?" And we would know exactly how to behave. He was never upset with us, always showed his compassionate side and if he did not like something, he simply walked away! What a zen master he was and we remember his teachings as if he was a human zen master. So clear, needing no words!

Wow! what an inspiration.

How to Live With Ease: The Law of Least Effort

The Law of Least Effort

Do you want to live a life of ease?

I am guessing your answer to that question is, "Yes". We all want to be living a life of ease, with ease and flow like everything in Nature seems to be doing.

What would your life look like if it was filled with ease?

Sometimes we have not even taken a moment to reflect on this. So I invite you to think for your life: what would it mean to be in flow, to live with ease? You will amazed at how just reflecting on this question clears up the muddy waters of our lives.

A R D is the way
Our German members of the Happiness Lovers Family may think of ARD, the television broadcasting company. :-) But I am referring to something altogether different! ARD stands for Acceptance, Responsibility and Defenselessness. These are the three principles that make up the Fourth Spiritual Law of Success from the book, "Seven Spiritual Laws of Success" by  Deepak Chopra. And this is a simple way of creating ease in our lives.

I have prepared a 14 minute video for you outlining the main insights from it in this video on the Fourth Law of Least Effort and I think you will get something useful out of it.

Some of the Key Insights that I share in this Video:
- how the act of acceptance can be a launching point for conscious emotion-free action
- the difference between responsibility and blame (and knowing that is so empowering!)
- how defenseless as a way of being makes life easier

I am so happy you are a Joy Person in our Happiness Lovers Family. Thank you for your time and for being uniquely YOU.

Love and harmony,

Sophia
Helping You Live A Happier Life

PS: This edition is part of my seven part series on The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra. If you would like to see the previous three laws just click older post below.

Reach Any Heights: The Law of Intention & Desire

3 Lessons From Deepak Chopra: The Law of Intention & Desire

Here is a question for you to think of. Answer it quickly without thinking much or censoring because whatever comes as a response is fine. 

What is it that you really want in your life?

Take a moment to acknowledge the response that emerges for you.

For me, what I really want is to create a life out of my own design where I can navigate the ocean of life with ease and joy, have plenty of time to do all that I want, feel fulfilled with my contribution to our world, work from anywhere I want and have plenty of time with my husband and cat (and future fur babies) while living comfortably by the beach.

Tell me, in the comments below, your answer to this question because I really want to know what your heart is yearning to create.

Reach Any Heights
Now, what if I told you that inside this desire of yours is everything that you need to make it happen. Because you have that specific desire, you are also equipped with the exact skills, wisdom, strength and any other quality you need to experience that desire in reality. It is already here, within you.

Amazing, right?

Too often, we think struggling and stressing and going crazy over getting things done is the way to make things happen. If a new deal falls through, if a promotion is passed on to someone else, if something happens that is not what we want, we think, "Ah, I will just put 100 more hours into the week where I am already working a 100 hours and that should do it." Or, we think of some other scheme to get what we want or we drop into the stressing-over-it-mode that simply doesn't feel right but we think we have to do it or else....or else we will never get to where we are going. Or so we think.

But does it have to be that way?

Changing the Energy Field
Deepak Chopra in the chapter on the Fifth Law of his book, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, says otherwise. It is called The Law of Intention and Desire and he writes:

"You can consciously change the energy and informational content of your own quantum mechanical body, and therefore influence the energy and informational content of your extended body — your environment, your world — and cause things to manifest in it."

This is a very different way of getting things done than the old struggling and stressing! It is all about understanding how our world is structured and how to wisely use that understanding to create what we want, and do it with ease and joy. If you want to know more about how to activate this "way of being", you will love this video on the Fifth Law of Intention and Desire.

Creating Our Desires With Ease
You will love it because in this video, I go deep into the Fifth Law and share a powerful yet simple 5 Step Process for using the Law of Intention and Desire to create what we desire. Of course, we still have to do things out in the world and take actions, but this process helps us to make our lives simpler and helps us manifest what we want with a sense of ease that is very freeing. And I am all about simplicity, ease and joy, so I love that!!

Key insights that I share in this video:
- the quantum nature of our world and what separates human beings from trees (!)
- how we can use the structure of the universe to influence it
- why time is a key element in manifesting our intentions and how understanding the nature of time can give you enormous bolts of energy
- how the quality of our intentions influences the results
- the fast way to dissolve 90% of the obstacles we face (and how we bring present can dissolve the remaining 10%)
- what "accepting things as it is" doesn't mean and what it does
- Deepak's 5 Step Process to manifesting our intentions

So do take a look yourself and watch the video.

And I am looking forward to reading about what you really want to create in your life in the comments below. By doing this, you will already be done with the first step in the 5 Step Process for using the Law of Intentions and Desire.

Thank you for your time and for reading all the way down here and for watching the video. I am happy to have you part of our Happiness Lovers family.

Love and harmony,

Sophia
Helping You Live A Happier Life

3 Lessons From Deepak Chopra: On Detachment

I keep reading in various books on happiness and abundance that to really achieve what we want, we need to be detached. I have wondered about this idea and many questions have come up:

Does being detached mean not setting goals?
Should I not care whether or not my intention actually manifests? But I do care, so how can I be detached?
How can I take the next steps on my way to achieving my goals if I am to be detached.

Have you wondered like I have, what does it actually mean to be detached? And how can I apply it in my life to make my dreams into a reality?

Detachment doesn't mean not caring.
First of all, what I learned is the word detachment has many meanings and in psychology one meaning is the inability to emotionally connect with others. Another meaning is disconnecting emotionally from others in order to protect oneself.

But that is not what is meant by the well-known and prolific author of the book, "The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success", Deepak Chopra.

Get your copy on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3FN7Vil (Partnerlink: when you buy the book through this link we receive a commission with no surcharge for you.)

What he means by detachment is the practice and the art of releasing attachment to the end result. So we still make our goals. We still plan and take actions in alignment with our values and priorities. But we focus on what we can do and let go of how something should turn out. This is all encapsulated in a beautiful short chapter called, The Law of Detachment and I made a video about it.

In this video, I share with you:

- What is attachment and how it emerges from the prison of the past.
- The role fear plays in preventing us from being detached.
- How adventurous and exciting it can be to be detached and I share the example of baking a cake.
- Why we are not going for perfection but practicing bit by bit.
- The amazing quote from the book on how we can achieve our dreams with ease.

What I love about this law is that it is all about making things happen by getting out of our way and letting the Universe conspire events in our favor. It doesn't mean not taking action and leaving it up to the Universe, it means being flexible not stubborn and not clinging to our idea of how it should all turn out. When we do that, our intentions become a reality.

This is yet another long video, so get yourself a nice cup of herbal tea or nourishing juice or whatever nourishes you, get comfy and enjoy this video. I shot this video outdoors so there will be helicopter sounds and happy birds singing in the background - for me, that's all part of being detached of how my videos should turn out!

Also, as you noticed this the second video from Chopra's book. There are total of seven laws in the book and I intend to continue making a video on each single law because I feel that the wisdom and practical directions in this book has made an enormous impact on my life. And I believe that my sharing from the book can help you be happier and more fulfilled.

Get your copy on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3FN7Vil (Partnerlink: when you buy the book through this link we receive a commission with no surcharge for you.)

What I would love to know is how you view detachment, how you have have dealt with it or how you practice letting go of attachment to the end results.

I am really grateful that you took the time to read this message. Thank you for being part of our Happiness Lovers Family. And if you are not yet a Happiness Lover, join our family now by going here.

Love and harmony,

Sophia
Helping You Live A Happier Life

PS: Click here to go to the video where I share 3 Lessons from Deepak Chopra's Seventh Law of Dharma or Life Purpose.



 

3 Lessons from Deepak Chopra: On Life Purpose and The Law of Dharma

3 Lessons from Deepak Chopra: On Life Purpose and The Law of Dharma

One of the things that I have struggled with for a long time in my life was the question of life purpose.

What am I here to do?
What is my purpose?
What was I meant to create during this life time?

I felt lost, clueless and without direction.
Forget about purpose and meaning, I didn't even feel happy about the simple pleasures of life. Confused, I have wandered at many different avenues and at each stop, I learned something about my purpose. And this was only a few short years ago.

If I had come upon this book at that time, I know I would have seen a lot of answers pop-up. The book I am referring to is, "The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success" written by the well-known and prolific author, Deepak Chopra. More than anything, the book is about living a fulfilled, happy life. It consists of seven laws derived from ancient Vedic texts but one can find parallels in almost every spiritual tradition. The seventh law in this book is a succinct, summarized guide to finding our life's purpose or Dharma.

Essentially, this law says that our purpose is to find our inner-most talents that we enjoy, connect it to serving others and in the doing of it experience the divine.

Straightforward, right? Well...

Too often, we need an intermediary to understand and explore the concepts that are laid out in a book. And I decided that this chapter is so essential that I wanted to share my insights from it with you. So I made a video - around 20 minutes long, which goes deep into just this one chapter of this one book. I know that's long for our busy schedules but it is worth it, if you ever wonder about existential questions like "what is my purpose in life".

Watch the video below where I share 3 Lessons from Deepak Chopra.

In this video, I share with you:

- I share with you how to put into practice the steps laid out for finding our life purpose.
- I will make clear how to find what we are passionate about especially for those who are not sure what they love doing.
- I will share how you can connect the dots when you have found what you love to do and whether it serves others.

Do take a look and let me know in the comments what your main challenge around life purpose has been or what you are currently facing. I will be reading your thoughts, so go ahead and share. You might just offer the missing link to someone on their path looking for answers.

Thank you for being part of our Happiness Lovers Family. And if you are not yet a Happiness Lover, join our family now by going here.

Lots of love,

Sophia
Helping You Live A Happier Life

PS: If you have questions that I could answer in one of my future videos around this subject of finding and living one's life purpose, go ahead and write it in the comments.

How To Turn An Obstacle Into A Meaningful Opportunity

When you are faced with an obstacle or a challenge in life, you can find an opportunity in it and come out of the challenge even stronger. In this video, I share with three steps you can take to make this happen.

Key Insights:
-Our perspective is the key to how we experience life.
-By choosing to see the positive elements/ the gift in an obstacle, we have instantly shifted our perspective and our experience of that obstacle into an opportunity.
-By focusing on the action, specifically what positive actions we can take, we can move into transforming the challenge into something meaningful.

In the comments below, I invite you to share your insights on dealing with an obstacle. Your words here could change someone's life and bring you healing in the sharing of it. So go ahead and make your voice known.

Thank you and peace,

Sophia

I have created a Happiness Lover's Family. You can become part of our virtual family and receive free tips and update on the best Happiness Practices picked from modern science and ancient wisdom. Go here to join.

A secret that will help you shift from resisting to accepting

With Cristof Ensslin

My husband, Cristof Ensslin is a power house of wisdom and inspiration and a big part of my journey from a downward cycle to a rich, happy, uplifting life. I am amazed how he handles things in his life with grace and compassion. So I asked him how he deals with some of the challenging moments, especially that of loss. Listen to this video in which he shares the power of allowing the emotion: truly a big key to moving through the challenge.

Please please share with us how you deal with a specifically difficult moment such as a loss of a loved one. It could change someone's life.

And if you want to be part of our brand new Happiness Lovers Family go here to join in and receive free tips and tools to live a more enriching and happier life.

Peace,
Sophia

How to Keep Your Cool in the Face of Challenges

With Asmita Barua and Voahirana Rakotonaivo

I write and speak in my blogs and videos about ways we can live a happier life. Then there are moments when things get really tough and it becomes a challenge to stay on our positive track. Recently, I had the chance to speak with two of my awesome friends who are also my former colleagues from the time I worked at the United Nations. And I asked them how do they keep cool during challenging times. This is what they had to say:

Have you any tips of how you handle the tough days? Please share in the comments below. What you say and share could be life-changing to someone who reads it down the road. So go ahead and share.

And if you want to be part of our brand new Happiness Lovers Family go here to join in and receive free tips and tools to live a more enriching and happier life.

Love,
Sophia

How To Use Gratitude For Manifestation: 4 Step Gratitude Manifestation Process

What one thing do you absolutely want to create or experience in 2015?

What if there was a simple yet effective process that you can use to create all that you want? Yes, there is.

The Doing Without The Being
We hurry and scurry about with the "doing" of things which has a key role in making things happen, no doubt! But do we realize that all that we want to create on the outside world begins WITHIN? We may even know this rationally from all the literature we have read about starting from within in order to create out there. But is that something we live, breathe and feel deeply in our cells?

To truly create with ease and alignment all that we want to experience in our lives, I believe, we must start by changing the way we perceive, think and feel about that very thing we want to create.

So, how do we do that?

Appreciation Makes Things Grow
We do that by realizing that that which we want to create is already here. It is not some kind of make-belief. This is a way to recognize what is already blossoming in our lives. It is about cultivating the ability to see in small ways (and often in big ways) a presence already in your life of that which you are wanting to bring into your life-experience. And a really fast and simple way to do this is to drop into gratitude-mode.

In today's video, I share with you a step-by-step process, I call the 4 Step Gratitude Manifestation Process which you can use right now and it only takes a few minutes to get started:

By connecting with the energy of gratitude, we shift our minds and hearts into a place of appreciation, love and deep acceptance of what is. We notice the good in life. We begin to see the gifts in the most challenging of situations and experiences. From there, an amazing thing happens: we begin to experience more of that which we appreciate. One meaning of appreciation is "to increase in value". Literally by appreciating a positive aspect of anything, you increase its value to you and you will begin to see, that which you value appreciates in your life. This is why gratitude is such a powerful creative tool or if you like it put this way - a powerful manifestation tool.

Make it a part of your daily routine and in this way you can create your goals into a reality when added to the actions you are already taking towards it.

Sophia
Helping You Live A Happier Life

PS: I have a created an exciting two-part program in January called Intentions Manifested which we will broadcast LIVE with a video feed for you. This is designed to help you set your goals for the year and help you create focus, using guided visualizations as the main tool. I am thrilled to be doing this for you

INTENTIONS MANIFESTED I

JAN 3RD SAT 4PM EST
LEARN MORE >>>

INTENTIONS MANIFESTED II

JAN 25TH SUN 4PM EST
LEARN MORE >>>

Happiness Lovers Family: Welcome! Introduce Yourself

Hey New Happiness Lover!

Welcome to the family. At Reflection Pond, we call each other either a Happiness Lover or Lovely Joy Person. Feel free to start using these terms of endearment. This helps us to feel part of a family.

Now, introduce yourself. In the comments below, share with us:
1. Where you are from and where you live currently.
2. Share with me your #1 thing you are grateful for.
3. Your #1 challenge in leading a happy life.

I also invite you to read the other family member's comments and respond to them. This is for you.

If you want to be part of the Happiness Lover Family and are not yet, go here to join us today. It is free.
 

The Focusing Question: How to transform your overflowing schedule

...into one of ease.

As the year comes to a close, I look back at all the projects and activities I have undertaken. I am filled with satisfaction for the personal and business goals that I have worked towards. But I also have this feeling that as Fall rolled in, things got a little out of hand and I was drowning in work and commitments.

Did you have that experience?

As this realization set in, I asked myself how I could streamline my work and life so that I can truly accomplish my goals without getting lost in the hustle-bustle of life.

And thankfully, I received my answer and I have already begun implementing it. And it starts with one question.

Watch this video to learn about this one question that has helped me ease my workload while up-leveling my productivity. And it has a huge potential to help you.

Click the links below to learn more
1. The One Thing by Gary Keller with Jay Papasan
2. The Success Principles by Jack Canfield

Plus, last month's Live Video Event, "Happiness Intention" was amazing with wonderful interaction from the audience. We also chose 2 lucky winners for my Happiness Coaching session: Michael S. and Irene S.C. (Yes, we had only announced that we would giveaway 1 session but I spontaneously decided to giveaway another! Yayy!)

Our next Live Event, "The Gratitude Way" on December 28th, 4pm Eastern. A wonderful way to close the year! So do join in!

Till then, watch this video.

Sending you love and blessings,

Sophia
Helping You Live A Happier Life

Listening to Your Inner Voice with Stillness

Last month, Renée Konan, an entrepreneur and also a former colleague during my time at the United Nations in New York, shared with some wisdom nuggets. I called her up on skype and recorded our conversation which is filled with laughs and giggles. She speaks with so much ease and confidence about listening to our inner wisdom and makes it simple to do.

So take a watch and enjoy this jubilant personality, Ms. Renée Konan. And share in the comments below how do you listen to your inner-guidance and intuitive nudges?

How I Dealt With Someone's Words That Were Hurtful

(plus, how you can stay peaceful in such a situation)

You consider yourself a positive person, generally upbeat about life. You focus on your work, are kind to people and work towards making a contribution to this world. But then, someone says something that just throws you off your positive-horse, so to speak.

Does this happen to you? I just experienced this.

In this video, I share with you how I dealt with just such a situation and also the positive nuggets that I learned which  can help you stay happy and peaceful when facing something similar.

Plus, I have just put into place my new studio set, right in my living room and I loooove it. With new lights, filters and camera stand, the video quality just went up a few notches. Have a look yourself!

And this month, we will have a special Live Video Event, "Happiness Intention" to explore simple, practical ways you can boost your quality of life, daily. So look out for an invite for that coming soon.

Lots of love to you,

Sophia
Helping You Live A Happier & Simplified Life

PS: Do let me know how you deal with hurtful words from someone in the comments below.

How To Be Content, Right Now?

You know, I have been looking and searching for the last six years for specific answers to questions that so many of us face. And I am fortunate that teachers have come into my life at exactly the right time, teaching me just what I needed to know in that moment.

When I do learn something I want to begin implementing it right away and sharing it right away.

And I made a video for you that I think will be very useful if you are thinking about questions around contentment.

In last month's post, I shared with you my thoughts on how to create happiness every day. I introduced the idea of generating happiness and making a decision to commit to being happy. Today, I want to share with you a bigger theme: contentment.

Being happy when things in life are smooth sailing is one thing, but how to go deeper than that? How to be content with life despite hardships, despite challenges? Is it even possible?

The answer, of course, is "Yes".

It may be a black-belt, ninja-level, yogi-on-the-mountain-top-level master skill. But I believe it is DO-ABLE.

In the video below, I share with you what I have learned about being content right in this moment, no matter what is going on in our lives.

Do watch it and share with me in the comments, your biggest frustration with being content on a daily basis.

Peace and love to you,

Sophia
Helping you live happier and simpler life.

PS: Want to see us Live? Cristof and I will be going online Live for a new visualization meditation evening.  Join us! October 14, Tuesday, 7pm Eastern

How to Create Happiness Every Day

Even though happiness seems like a mystery at times to some of us, we can create happiness every day. Read on!

Happiness is a personal responsibility just as a clean home or a healthy meal is. To keep our kitchen sink clean what needs to happen? We need to take the scrubber and wash the dishes and clean the sink afterwards. Then, to continue to have it this way, we need to do it everyday. Now we have a nice, tidy kitchen sink on a daily basis.

Creating happiness is something like that. We need to take ACTIONS to first create it and then to maintain it. We need to do this everyday. Yes, it is true that happiness is never lost; it is always within us at all times and to say 'create' belies this fact. I will still like to use the word 'create' because it brings home the fact that in order to experience happiness we need to actively participate.

It is really imperative that you and I do this. Because happiness doesn't usually happen to us although we wait hoping for it to come to us. Yes, some people seem to be inherently happy. But they too do things, albeit, so naturally that they may not even be aware that they are doing it. They do things to help generate the feeling of happiness.

So, there it is, the key phrase: generating happiness.

Before I go into generating happiness, I would like to salute all those who say that happiness is something that just happens. One needs to meditate and be in the present moment and voilà! we will be happy. Although, I love meditation and love the teachings of being in the present moment, a lot of us, myself included, are not there yet to just feel happy at all times. Side note: happy=content=at peace. Not everyone is a regular meditator and many of us are not always present. So if this describes you, then read on.

The essence of what I am saying here is that we actually need to do something actively to generate happiness. We need to take conscious actions.

1. We need to look deeply at what generates happiness. For each one of us it is different.

Two things happen when we begin to dissect those things that make/generate happiness for us. One, we begin to see that there certain things that we want in our lives. And we think once we attain them, we shall be happy - the pursuit of happiness, which really is the cause of unhappiness. It is something in the future. We can never attain something that is in the illusory dimension of time which is conceptual. There is only the present. So, if we cannot feel or generate happiness in the now, the idea that 'someday' I shall be happy, is just a way to trap ourselves in a perpetual circle. This way, we see that what we think will make us happy in the future is nothing but an illusion.

So, the 'happiness' is not happening in the future. It is only happening now.

Second, when we look deeper at what generates happiness, we realize all those things that our heart really really values but our mind or the ego, doesn't want to give it importance. These are all the things that are not connected with status, fame, success, security, wealth, reputation and the face we show in society. What our hearts value are things that are very deeply personal and unique to each one of us. And of course, it varies greatly.

Some of these things for me are:

having plenty of time for breakfast (not rushing)
watching birds fly (I love to gaze at the sky)
playing with my cat (being around animals)
creative activity (writing, editing videos, cooking, designing websites)
reading (i love to read uplifting books)
watching the sunset (having grown up on the west coast of India, the sun setting into the ocean is truly special)
walking on the beach or in the woods (this unique connection with nature is beyond words)
sitting in the hammock with a notebook and a pen (I love writing in my hammonck)
meditating (regardless of how still my mind is during a meditation, after the session I have a wonderful sense of joy for having shown up for it)
playing badminton with my neighbor-kids
chatting about the nature of life and universe with friends

...and so on.

Not one item on this list is something money can buy. Think about your own list. What kinds of things make you happy; things that your heart values?

It seems that many of these activities we don't give value to ourselves, even though deep down we love them. We enjoy them, but somehow we find other more important things to do - often things that directly generate money or status - which we think will get us all those happiness-making things in the future.

Do understand me right. We certainly need to take care of our needs and do the necessary to take care of our livelihood. But I am talking about what comes after that - after you have done the necessary and covered the basics.

This is what seems to happen.

Everything externally seems to be going well, just as you planned. You are doing everything that society has asked of you, you even excel and create immense monetary success, but you feel cheated, tripped up. That something is not right, not fair. Inside you, there is a deep rumbling of dissatisfaction, discomfort, restlessness, even sadness and inexplicable sorrow. And you think at first, it is something out there - somebody said or did something or didn't say or didn't do. Or it may be that some situation is not working out the way you planned. These external events become a trigger - a light switch that is turned on to then make you feel really really bad. You even realize that your reactions seems out of proportion to the event you are facing. And then you begin to wonder what in the world is going on with you?!!

All that has happened is that your inner-spirit, your essence, your soul is suffocated. You have not been doing all those things that make you truly happy. You've had too many stresses and pressures of life that you needed to cater to. Too many fires to put out for others, that your inner-fire is fighting for air. The inner-fire will never be put out - no matter what you do. But we do need to help this little fire, this litter flame to breathe, to grow, to expand and to shine through us.

When, that doesn't happen, we feel ill, we feel restless, we drop into depression and into anger.

We need to play, we need to do more of the things we love to do. More of the things that makes us happy - make us feel good.

But how to do it? How to do it when our days are full and our responsibilities to others take all of our time?

It may seem hard, but really it isn't.

2. All it takes is a decision.

We need to decide that kindling our inner fire is important to us. This is what generates happiness for us. And a happy person helps his/her community in infinite ways.

So, after we make that decision, we need to commit to generating happiness in the next 24 hours. We need to pick something small.

Whatever creates true happiness for you, do that, even if it is only for 15 minutes.

Then, make a new commitment for one more day and for just a few minutes. And each day renewing your commitment to take care of your inner-light.

You will see that your inner-fire starts rekindling. It gets a little air to breathe. There comes a smile to your face. You begin to generate happiness; instead of waiting for it to happen to you. You are allowing your spirit to flourish.

So, happiness - feeling light and happy - is your personal responsibility, like brushing teeth, showering and keeping a clean kitchen sink. And you can do it - start small and soon you will create a momentum of continuous and exponential increase in happiness and in a sense of well-being.

Love,
Sophia