We can work really hard and achieve great success in our career, but still life remains largely out of our control. There are many things that can happen to us which are so totally out of our control that all our money and power can’t save us from the consequences.
You’d think that making more money and having all the fancy comforts of life will make you happy. But many people have gone down that road and found that there is no link between inner happiness and material belongings.
One such woman, who converted to Buddhism after being a successful banker shows us what she considers to be the 5 secrets of real happiness:
1. Bad situations are not necessarily to be avoided
We have been trained to always stay out of danger’s path. Every time we are faced with an uncomfortable situation we immediately set ourselves on how to avoid it. We resist it so much and yet we cannot help ourselves. Stop resisting. Whatever is meant to happen, will happen. Even bad things are inevitable sometimes. What you need to do is to learn to look at it critically and with an open mind. Every situation, good or bad, can teach us a lot about life. We need to keep our eyes and mind open to it. Otherwise we’ll miss out on life’s greatest opportunities because we wanted to be safe.
2. Learn to forgive and be empathetic
It is easy to feel vengeful towards someone who has done injustice to us. Feeling of hatred for them is natural. But it only takes away our peace of mind. What we need to do is to learn understanding and try to forgive them. It might seem impossible to forgive someone who has done you great harm. But by doing so, you are only ensuring peace for yourself and a release from a very toxic mental state.
3. You have to look for peace
We think that once we have enough brands in our closet, enough cars in our garage and enough 0’s in our paycheck that we will find contentment and peace. We keep putting off our spiritual and emotional well being while chasing deadlines and grabbing financial opportunities. This is just an endless circle that doesn’t lead to peace or even happiness. If you want to have peace in your life, you have to look for it. Nothing can substitute for peace and contentment and you need to make it a priority to find them.
4. Discover methods which can help you in achieving calm and peace
Practices such as meditation and mindfulness have been greatly effective in helping people find peace of mind, but they are not the only way. Things like spending time with nature and animals, practicing creativity, a calm conversation with a dear friend can all greatly enhance your mental calmness. Physical exercise too is known to relax and rejuvenate your mind. In other words, you need to look for whatever works best for you; whichever method helps you achieve mental peace is good enough. If you reach a calm mental state by meditating, it’s good. If you do it by cycling through the woods, that’s good too.
5. Learn from Buddhist ideals
Buddhism preaches love and compassion to all beings, be it animals, trees or humans. Buddhist practices focus on positive values of kindness, understanding and love. When we incorporate these in our daily life, we find it much easier to be kind to a person who has been incredibly rude to us. These practices can help us become better humans and look after not just ourselves, but all parts of creation.
Now, you can follow Conscious Reminder on Facebook & Instagram!
∼If you like our article, give Conscious Reminder a thumbs up, and help us spread LOVE & LIGHT!∼
